Warren Kenneth Lees (born 19 March 1952) is a New Zealand

cricketer 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 ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He played 21 Test and 31 ODIs from 1976 to 1983 as a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

batsman. He was coach of the Black Caps from 1990 to 1993.

Domestic career

He made his first-class debut 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 ...

in 1970 and extended his career until 1988. During this period, he played 146 matches and scored 4932 runs at 24.66 and effecting 348 dismissals. He took 304 catches and 48 stumping. He also took 2 wickets. In his List A career he made his debut for Otago in 1971 and he played 81 matches, he scored 1071 runs at 18.78 and he took 82 catches and did 10 stumping. In his final season as captain of Otago (1987–88), Otago won both the one-day and first-class competitions that season.

International career

Lees followed

Ken Wadsworth Kenneth John Wadsworth (30 November 1946 – 19 August 1976) was a New Zealand cricketer who played 33 Tests and 13 One Day Internationals for New Zealand as a wicket-keeper. Wadsworth also played for Nelson in the Hawke Cup. Domestic care ...

into the New Zealand side and soon proved himself a capable wicketkeeper-batsman. In only his third Test, against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

in 1976–77, he made 152 at a time New Zealand were in deep trouble and followed with 46 in the second innings to save the match. He was very unfortunate to be left out of the tour of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1978, arguably being a better wicketkeeper and batsman than

Jock Edwards Graham Neil Edwards (27 May 1955 – 6 April 2020) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played eight Test matches and six One Day Internationals for New Zealand. Life and career Edwards was born in Nelson, and attended Nelson College. He was a sh ...

, his replacement, which was described by one journalist as the worst wicketkeeper he had ever seen! He returned to England the following year as part the New Zealand side which reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, but the emergence of Ian Smith meant that these opportunities thereafter were limited. In 1982–83 he took five catches in an innings and eight in the match against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

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 me ...

, and played his final Tests on the 1983 tour of England.

Coaching career

Otago

After ending his cricketing career he turned to coaching in 1989, he remained there until 1990 before being promoted to national team with which he spent nearly three years.

New Zealand

Lees' first tour in charge was very tough. New Zealand lost all three Tests and three ODIs, against Pakistan by big margins. Traveling did not get any easier, and they managed only one win on the road, against Zimbabwe in Harare. But there was one standout moment as coach for Lees – the 1992 World Cup. New Zealand reached the semi-final of the tournament, losing to eventual champions Pakistan. He found good players for New Zealand but was not able to find any of great players. Players like

Gavin Larsen Gavin Rolf Larsen (born 27 September 1962) is a former New Zealand cricketer who specialised in the art of economical bowling. He was known playfully by his teammates as "The Postman". He is currently chief selector for the national side. Dom ...

Rod Latham Rodney Terry Latham (born 12 June 1961) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played domestic cricket for Canterbury, and played four Tests and 33 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He also played rugby union for Canterbury. He was born i ...

and Willie Watson were his find under Martin Crowe as captain of the team. It was a tour abroad that ended Lees' national coaching role. After the team abandoned their trip to Sri Lanka in November and December 1992, when bomb blasts threatened their safety. In 2014, after spending years with Black Caps, Lees became an interim coach of a

New Zealand women's national cricket team The New Zealand women's national cricket team, nicknamed the White Ferns, represents New Zealand in international women's cricket. One of eight teams competing in the ICC Women's Championship (the highest level of international women's cricket ...

called White Ferns. During that year, his team had participated in the 2017 World Cup against Sri Lanka and won seven

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s at the County Cricket Ground, Derby. From 2012 until 2017 Warren Lees spent five years as the coach of the Otago Sparks cricket team. He considers the two titles that they won as a highlight in his coaching career.

Honours

In the

1989 Queen's Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supple ...

, Lees was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to cricket.

Personal life

Lees lives in Clyde,

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 ...

, with his wife Jude. He spends his days coaching what he calls "country kids", who do not have access to the same resources as their counterparts in big cities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Warren 1952 births Living people New Zealand One Day International cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup Coaches of the New Zealand national cricket team New Zealand cricket coaches Cricketers from Dunedin New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire South Island cricketers Wicket-keepers