Ex-coach declares during Super Over

David Gordon was surrounded by family and had the Cricket World Cup final on when he took his last breath on Monday morning.

His daughter, Leonie Gordon, says this is exactly how he would have liked to have gone.

‘‘One of the nurses came in for the final over, the Super Over, and she said his breathing is changing.

‘‘You know, I think Jimmy Neesham had just hit that six and he took his last breath.

‘‘He had a quirky sense of humour and he was a real character and he would have loved the fact that he did that.’’

Black Caps star Neesham paid tribute to his high school coach yesterday morning.

Neesham posted on Twitter a kind tribute to the influence his former Auckland Grammar teacher and coach had on his cricket.

‘‘Dave Gordon, my high school teacher, coach and friend. Your love of this game was infectious, especially for those of us lucky enough to play under you. How appropriate you held on until just after such a match. Hope you were proud. Thanks for everything. RIP.’’

Leonie Gordon was heartened to see Neesham’s tribute and said her father would have been too.

‘‘It was lovely, you know, he’s kept in touch with Jimmy and he is friends with Jimmy’s father. He always had a soft spot for Jimmy Neesham, he was very proud of him.

‘‘He would definitely be following his career.’’

The dedicated teacher and cricket coach went into heart failure five weeks ago, with both his daughters and their families coming home from Italy and San Francisco, knowing they had little time with him left.

The family joked to him that he was sticking around for the Cricket World Cup to see the Black Caps win.

‘‘We jumped on a plane and raced home. Then we got the call he only had a few days. We knew his time with us was limited.

‘‘We talked a lot about the cricket because he is obviously a big fan and a follower of the Black Caps.’’

Gordon taught at Auckland Grammar for over 25 years, where he coached a few future Black Caps in the juniors, with Lockie Ferguson another of his former charges.

The Grammar old boy dedicated much of his spare time to sport, and followed the careers of his past pupils.

‘‘So much of his time went into sport, every weekend in his heyday he would be coaching cricket and hockey,’’ Leonie said.

‘‘He gave up a lot of his free time to be out there coaching the boys.’’