Ex-Canterbury pace bowler dies

John (Jack) Kiddey who played 44 first-class cricket matches for Canterbury spanning nine seasons from 1956-57 to 1964-65 has died.

Kiddey, who was 92, was a left-arm medium pace bowler who claimed 141 wickets during his career at the highly impressive average of 20.17. He took five fivewicket hauls and one 10-wicket one.

One of Kiddey’s outstanding attributes was to bowl tightly, as his average attests, and he proved an admirable foil usually coming on at first change for the likes of Canterbury’s New Zealand players around the time of Tony MacGibbon and Dick Motz.

Kiddey appeared for the province at Lancaster Park in matches against touring teams from Australia, England, South Africa and Pakistan. He also played alongside Motz at the Riccarton club and they were a formidable combination.