The great who never played a test

One of New Zealand cricket’s greatest fast bowlers, Tom Pritchard, has died, aged 100. Pritchard, who celebrated his 100th birthday in March, took 818 wickets in a 200-game career in New Zealand and England.

He had been New Zealand’s oldest living first-class cricketer and had been living in Levin until his death on Tuesday, having suffered a short illness.

Somehow Pritchard played only one first-class game for New Zealand, but the outbreak of World War II and an English county cricket contract with Warwickshire meant he never played a test match.

Keith Cook, assistant honorary secretary of Warwickshire Old County Cricketers Association, paid tribute to Pritchard.

‘‘All at WOCCA are very sad to hear that Tom has passed away. He really was a Warwickshire legend in the truest sense of the word. He was a very fine cricketer and also a lovely man.’’

Pritchard was still a keen follower of the game and had a sharp memory in his old age, easily able to recall his playing days 70 years ago.

He is fourth on the list of New Zealand first-class wicket takers behind Richard Hadlee, Clarrie Grimmett and Syd Smith, and was thought to be one of the great pace bowlers.

But Pritchard didn’t have any regrets about not playing a test match, because if he had played a test, he may not have followed the same path in life.

‘‘I was disappointed in 1937 when everybody more or less said I was unfortunate,’’ Pritchard told Stuff in an interview in March before his 100th birthday.

‘‘It was the best thing that happened to me that I didn’t get in. The great thing was I met my wife, who passed away a few years ago. I have a lovely family and found other jobs after I finished playing.’’

If he had become a fixture in the New Zealand test team, Pritchard may not have met his wife Mavis, who was from Kent and in the army. The pair met at a dance in London when Pritchard was playing for Warwickshire and were married for 64 years before Mavis died in 2009.

Pritchard did play against Walter Hadlee’s touring New Zealand team in 1949 and took six wickets in the first innings.

Signed by Warwickshire in 1946 for £500 a year, Pritchard was initially ineligible, so had to play for their second XI for a season, but became a regular wicket taker for the top side.

Warwickshire gave him a benefit season in 1952, and he finished in 1955, but played a season with Kent as an amateur in 1956.

Joe Hardstaff, Cyril Washbrook, Peter May and Denis Compton were the toughest batsman Pritchard bowled to, as was England great Len Hutton, but Pritchard did dismiss him lbw in both innings of one game.

Pritchard said he only drank water or beer in his time and

200 matches, 42871 balls, 818 wickets, best bowling 8-20, 23.30 bowling average, 48 5-wicket bags, 11 10-wicket match hauls.

Richard Hadlee 1490, Clarrie Grimmett 1424, Syd Smith 955, Tom Pritchard 818, Jeetan Patel 702, Andre Adams 692, Dipak Patel 654, Chris Cairns 647, Stephen Boock 640, Chris Martin 599, Ewen Chatfield 587.

joked he would be given the bum’s rush if he were playing today for ‘‘having beer for breakfast’’.

He would bowl lengthy spells, but it didn’t bother him and during his first-class career he bowled 42871 deliveries.

He only had one serious injury, where he tore muscles underneath his ribs and when he first returned to play he wore ‘‘ladies stays’’, a supportive PHOTO: MURRAY WILSON/STUFF undergarment.

He would have cut the figure of a menacing pace bowler in his prime and had a reputation as a tearaway quick.

Despite all those years terrorising batsman, Pritchard was known for being a friendly bloke and enjoying a chuckle.

That demeanour remained until his death and he was always happy to chat cricket.

It was a long way for Pritchard, born on March 10, 1917, to go from his home town of Kaupokonui, a coastal Taranaki village.

He first played cricket when he was 11 with Wednesday club cricket in Hawera, then played for a South Taranaki rep team, before being picked to play a touring English team.

Pritchard moved to Palmerston North to work on the railroad where he met engine driver Alex McVicar, who Pritchard said was the one who made the most difference in his bowling career. McVicar had Pritchard bowling at one stump for an hour at a time.

After making an immediate impact on the club scene, Pritchard was straight into the Manawatu rep side, in the middle of a four-year Hawke Cup reign, resisting 15 challenges.

Those were the days before Central Districts and it was hard for anyone outside of Wellington to be selected in the Wellington first-class side.

Pritchard was overlooked for New Zealand’s tour of England in 1937, but his performances were too hard to ignore and he finally played for Wellington against Canterbury on December 31, 1937, taking six wickets in the match.

Pritchard bowled well for Wellington and got his one chance to play for New Zealand at the Basin Reserve against Englishman Sir Julien Cahn’s touring team in March, 1939, where Pritchard took one wicket in a rain-affected draw.

After that game Pritchard received two offers to play in England, but wasn’t interested.

The outbreak of war interrupted cricket in New Zealand and Pritchard joined the army in 1941, and he was sent to Waiouru with the tank corps.

His last first-class game in New Zealand was for the New Zealand Army against the New Zealand Air Force in Christchurch in April 1943.

He shipped off to Egypt in 1943, where he captained the army cricket team, then was briefly stationed in Italy.

One day he got back from duty in the wee hours of the morning to find a note asking him to play a match in Rome and after the war, Pritchard was a late inclusion in Central Mediterranean Forces team to play against a Lord’s XI, at Lord’s in London.

After that he was asked by General Bernard Freyberg, commander of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, to play HDG Leveson-Gower’s XI.

‘‘[Freyberg] said ‘would you like to play in London?’ After that one week I stayed for 40 years and never went back.’’

Pritchard worked in sales after he retired, and brought the family back to New Zealand in 1986.

New Zealand fast bowling great Tom Pritchard has died, aged 100.