Diminutive player made big impact
Former New Zealand cricket captain Barry Sinclair has died, aged 85.
Sinclair made his test debut in 1963 against England at Eden Park and captained the side in three of the 21 tests he played until 1968.
He was the third New Zealander, after Bert Sutcliffe and John R Reid, to score 1000 runs in test cricket. He also made more than 6000 first-class runs for Wellington, for whom he debuted as an 18-year-old.
Former broadcaster Bill Francis literally wrote the book on Sinclair. As a small boy, Francis followed Sinclair’s cricketing exploits and during the writing of
got to know Sinclair well. ‘‘He was this very diminutive player, probably the smallest player playing firstclass cricket in the world,’’ he said.
‘‘In the field he was absolutely dynamic . . . sprinted from cover to cover and had a great arm. He was such a plucky and inspirational batsman as well.’’
Francis said of Sinclair’s era, there weren’t many New Zealand players who scored test hundreds. He said Sinclair became ‘‘great mates’’ with fellow captain John Reid.
‘‘Reid relied a lot on Sinclair as a pivotal number three or four to come in to be solid and score runs,’’ he said.
‘‘For him to get to 1000 [test runs] was a great achievement.’’
Sinclair played his early cricket in Kilbirnie and would often be spotted down at the park throwing a few balls around with childhood friend Don Neely, who recently died, aged 86.
Neely described Sinclair in his book 100 Summers as a ‘‘brilliant runner between wickets ... [who] took most delight in playing the latest of late cuts . . . [and] through hours of practice he made himself one of the most brilliant cover fielders ever to bestride the Basin Reserve.’’
Sinclair played as a professional in the era of amateurism within men’s cricket. He had to balance family and work (in the export and import sector in the wider Pacific) with cricket commitments. By the time he was 33, he had to choose and so came the end of his international cricket career.
‘‘He gave the captaincy away. It was quite a burden on his work life and family life to be able to continue to do that. That was some of the impacts the amateur era had on those players at that time,’’ Francis said.
In the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Sinclair was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit and was inducted as a Sports Legends of Wellington in 2015.
A service commemorating his life is due to be held next week in Auckland.