Former New Zealand captain John Reid dies at age 92

He was the fifth oldest living Test cricketer and oldest from New Zealand before his passing.

John Reid played 58 Tests, scoring 3,428 runs and led NZ to their first three Test wins | Getty

John Reid, the former New Zealand cricket team captain passed away in Auckland at the age of 92 years and 133 days. Before his passing, he was the fifth oldest living Test cricketer and the oldest from New Zealand.

Reid made his debut for New Zealand against England in Manchester in 1949. He played 58 Test matches and scored 3,428 runs before retiring in 1965. Reid holds the record for the lowest innings score with a batsman scoring a century. This knock came in the second innings of the Christchurch Test against England in March 1963, where he scored 100 out of New Zealand's innings total of 159.

He captained New Zealand in their first three Test wins including their maiden win against West Indies in 1956, which came in the country's 45th game, 26 years after their first Test.

Overall, he scored 16,128 first-class runs at an average of 41.35 and 39 hundreds with the bat, and with the ball took 466 first-class wickets at an average of 22.20.

His career-best 296 - with 35 fours and 15 sixes - for Northern Districts long held the record for most sixes in a first-class innings for more than three decades until Andrew Symonds broke that with his 16 sixes against Glamorgan.

After retirement, Reid became New Zealand's selector and an ICC match referee between 1993 and 2002, officiating in 50 Tests and 98 ODIs. In 2003, he was appointed president of New Zealand cricket.

Reid's health was in decline after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2013. After Reid's passing, the oldest living Test cricketer from New Zealand is Trevor McMahon (at age 90 and 341 days). McMahon played five Tests in 1955-56, and Reid, too, featured in all those games.

(ESPNCricinfo inputs)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 14 Oct, 2020

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