Stewart Gemmell McKnight (9 January 1935 – 8 January 2021) was a New Zealand

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He played seven first-class matches for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

between the 1958–59 and 1966–67 seasons. McKnight grew up on the family property at Ranfurly in

Central Otago Central Otago is located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River and tributa ...

, where his father died in 1940 while mining for gold. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and later farmed the property.McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 86. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
Available online
at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.) As well as playing first-class cricket for Otago, McKnight played Hawke Cup cricket for

from the 1963–64 season to 1976–77. He captained Central Otago against the touring

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

in 1960–61 at

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

, top-scoring with 48 in the second innings. He took part in a world tour with a

New Zealand Cricket Council New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New Z ...

side in 1964, playing in 11 countries. McKnight was also a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

referee, and represented New Zealand at

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

. He was a life member of both the

Otago Cricket Association The Otago cricket team, nicknamed the Volts since the 1997–98 season, are a New Zealand first-class cricket team which first played representative cricket in 1864. The team represents the Otago, Southland and North Otago regions of New Zeala ...

and the Otago Rugby Football Union and was a cricket selector for Otago. His son, Ken McKnight, played for both Central Otago and Otago during the 1980s and 90s. McKnight died at Ranfurly in 2021. He was aged 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKnight, Stewart 1935 births 2021 deaths New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers New Zealand male curlers People from Ranfurly, New Zealand People educated at Otago Boys' High School 20th-century New Zealand people