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Don Cleverley

Cleverley in 1931
Personal information
Full name	Donald Charles Cleverley
Born	(1909-12-23)23 December 1909 Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand
Died	16 February 2004(2004-02-16) (aged 94) Southport, Queensland, Australia
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	New Zealand (1932–1946)
Test debut (cap 21)	27 February 1932 v South Africa
Last Test	29 March 1946 v Australia
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 2 30 Runs scored 19 159 Batting average 19.00 5.29 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 Top score 10* 16* Balls bowled 222 6,805 Wickets 0 99 Bowling average – 29.08 5 wickets in innings – 3 10 wickets in match – 0 Best bowling – 8/75 Catches/stumpings 0/– 14/–
Source: Cricinfo, 1 April 2017

Donald Charles Cleverley (23 December 1909 – 16 February 2004) was a New Zealand Test cricketer. Cleverley played in two Tests for the New Zealand national cricket team, 14 years apart, but failed to take a wicket in either match.

Domestic career

Born in Oamaru in Otago, Cleverley was a right-arm fast-medium bowler and left-handed batsman. Cleverley played domestic first-class cricket for Auckland over 21 seasons, from 1930/31 to 1951/52, before playing a final season in 1952–53 for Central Districts. He also played for Piako against the touring MCC side in February 1936, and for Taranaki against Nelson in the Hawke Cup in December 1952.

International career

Cleverley played in New Zealand's inaugural Test match against South Africa, at Christchurch in February 1932. Cleverley bowled 22 overs without success, and scored 10* and 7 with the bat, and New Zealand were beaten by an innings and 12 runs.

He also played in the notorious one-off Test against Australia at Wellington in March 1946, New Zealand's first Test against Australia. Electing to bat first on a rain-affected pitch, New Zealand were bowled out for 42 inside two hours on the first morning. Australia scored runs as the pitch dried out, and ended the day at 149–3, but lost quick wickets after they resumed on a damp wicket the next morning and declared on 199–8. This was more than sufficient, and New Zealand were bowled out for 54 inside another two hours, to lose by an innings and 103 runs. Cleverley bowled 15 overs without taking a wicket, and was the not-out batsman on one run in each innings. After this debacle, which highlighted the gap in quality between the sides, Australia and New Zealand did not play against each other in Test cricket until 1973.

Trivia

Cleverley holds the record for the longest time between the last dismissal and end of a Test match career – 14 years and 29 days (1 March 1932 to 30 March 1946).

On the death of M. J. Gopalan in 2003, Cleverley became the oldest living Test cricketer. He died in Southport, Queensland at the age of 94, and he was succeeded as the oldest living Test cricketer by his compatriot Eric Tindill, who also played in the Test match against Australia in 1946.

References

1. Profile, CricketArchive
2. Profile, ESPNcricinfo
3. "Is India's 36 the first Test innings not to include a double-digit score?". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
4. "Full Scorecard of New Zealand vs South Africa 1st Test 1931/32 – Score Report | ESPNcricinfo.com".
5. "Full Scorecard of New Zealand vs Australia Only Test 1945/46 – Score Report | ESPNcricinfo.com".
6. Beating up your neighbour, ESPNcricinfo, 16 June 2007
7. Walmsley, Keith (2003). Most Withouts in Test Cricket (3rd ed.). Reading, England: Keith Walmsley. p. 458. ISBN 0947540067.
8. Don Cleverley, oldest Test cricketer, dies aged 94, ESPNcricinfo, 16 February 2004

• 1909 births
• 2004 deaths
• Cricketers from Oamaru
• New Zealand cricketers
• New Zealand Test cricketers
• Auckland cricketers
• Central Districts cricketers