Kenneth Cecil James (12 March 1904 – 21 August 1976), was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Test cricketer who played 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 ...

and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. He also served in New Zealand's Royal Air Force during second World War.

Early career

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. ...

and a useful batsman, James first played for Wellington in 1923 and toured England with the first New Zealand touring party in 1927 ostensibly as second string to

Tom Lowry Thomas Coleman Lowry (17 February 1898 – 20 July 1976) was a New Zealand Test cricketer. He captained the New Zealand team in its first seven Test matches, in 1930 and 1931. Lowry family Lowry's father, Thomas Henry Lowry, a graduate of ...

. But he quickly made the wicket-keeping position his own, with 85 dismissals on the tour, including eight at

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

. His understanding of the spin of Bill Merritt, the touring team's most successful bowler, was especially noted.''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' 1977, p. 1044. No Test matches were played on the 1927 tour. James was first-choice wicket-keeper for New Zealand's first Test matches in 1929–30 against

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 ...

, and again on the tour of England in 1931, and in the home series against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1931–32 and against England the following season. In 11 Tests he made 16 dismissals ( 11 Catches and 5 stumps)but failed completely as a batsman, scoring only 52 runs in total with an average of just 4.72 . However, he was the highest scorer in the

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...

in 1932–33, with 269 runs at an average of 44.83.

Later career

James then left New Zealand for England to qualify by residence as a county player for Northamptonshire, becoming the regular wicket-keeper from 1936 to 1939 and being joined there by Merritt. For a very weak county — Northamptonshire failed to win a single match for four years from May 1935 — James was notable not only for his wicket-keeping but also increasingly as a batsman, and in 1938, he scored more than 1,000 runs and made two centuries. James served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during 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 returned to New Zealand, where he played one more first-class match, captaining Wellington against

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

in the 1946-47 Plunket Shield just before his 43rd birthday. He later played a few matches in the

Hawke Cup The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat t ...

for Hutt Valley, taking part in the match in 1948–49 in which they won the title for the first time. He retired from cricket to run a public house. He died at

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

References

External links

* * (includes ''

'' obituary) {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Ken 1904 births 1976 deaths New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Wellington cricketers New Zealand military personnel of World War II Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel Sir L. Parkinson's XI cricketers New Zealand Services cricketers Wicket-keepers