Thomas Leslie Pritchard (10 March 1917 – 22 August 2017) was a New Zealand cricketer who played most of his

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

in England. Pritchard was a genuinely fast right-arm bowler and a useful lower order right-handed batsman who played in several matches for

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He said in 2013 that his 1939 memories of a game at the

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve (commonly known as "The Basin") is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It has been used for Test matches, and is the main home ground for the Wellington Firebirds first-class team. The Basin Reserve is the only crick ...

and of playing for his country were still strong. Stationed in Egypt and then Italy with New Zealand forces during the war, he ended the war in England, playing cricket. He qualified for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

in 1947 and was highly successful for several seasons.Bolton P (2006
County Cult Heroes
CricInfo, April 2006. Retrieved 9 March 2017. His best year was 1948 when he took 172 wickets at an average of 18.75. In 1951, his bowling, by now fast-medium rather than outright fast, played a big part in Warwickshire's unexpected

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

success. He took three hat tricks for the county during his career, as of 2016 still a record for the club. His bowling declined across the 1950s, and he left Warwickshire after the 1955 season. He played a few matches for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1956, but was not a success and retired. His last match was against Warwickshire, and as a batsman he was out first ball as part of a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

by Keith Dollery. He took 818 first-class wickets during his career and remains one of New Zealand's leading first-class wicket takers.McConnell L (2003
Cairns joins select group of bowlers in New Zealand history
CricInfo, 11 July 2003. Retrieved 9 March 2017. Pritchard met his wife Mavis at a dance in London when he was playing for Warwickshire. They were married for 64 years before she died in 2009. He worked in sales in England after his cricket career ended. Pritchard retired to New Zealand and lived in Levin from 1986 until his death. A biography, ''Tom Pritchard: Greatness Denied'' by Paul Williams, was published in 2013.Cricketer's life revealed
''The Dominion Post'', 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013. His grandson, David Meiring, has played first-class cricket for

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

.David Meiring
CricInfo. Retrieved 9 March 2017. In March 2017 he became only the third New Zealand first-class cricketer, after

John Wheatley John Wheatley (19 May 1869 – 12 May 1930) was a Scottish socialist politician. He was a prominent figure of the Red Clydeside era. Early life and career Wheatley was born to Thomas and Johanna Wheatley in Bonmahon, County Waterford, Ire ...

and Syd Ward, to reach 100 years of age. Pritchard died in Levin on 22 August 2017. At the time of his death, Pritchard was New Zealand's oldest living first-class cricketer; that honour then passed to

Alan Burgess Alan Burgess (1 February 1915 – 10 April 1998) was an English Royal Air Force pilot and author who wrote several biographical and non-fiction books between the 1950s and the 1970s. He wrote biographies of Gladys Aylward, and Flora Sandes, and ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Tom 1917 births 2017 deaths Commonwealth XI cricketers Cricketers from Taranaki H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Kent cricketers Men centenarians New Zealand Army cricketers New Zealand centenarians New Zealand cricketers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand Services cricketers North Island Army cricketers North v South cricketers Players cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Wellington cricketers