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Bevan Congdon

OBE
Personal information
Full name	Bevan Ernest Congdon
Born	11 February 1938; Motueka, New Zealand
Died	10 February 2018 (aged 79); Auckland, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	New Zealand (1965–1978);
Test debut (cap 103)	22 January 1965 v Pakistan
Last Test	24 August 1978 v England
ODI debut (cap 4)	11 February 1973 v Pakistan
Last ODI	17 July 1978 v England
Domestic team information
1960/61–1970/71	Central Districts
1971/72	Wellington
1972/73–1973/74	Otago
1974/75–1977/78	Canterbury
Career statistics
	Source: Cricinfo, 21 April 2017

Bevan Ernest Congdon OBE (11 February 1938 – 10 February 2018) was a New Zealand cricket all-rounder who played 61 Test matches and 11 One Day Internationals from 1965 to 1978, which included a two-year spell as captain.^[1]

Captaincy

Congdon was captain of the New Zealand Test and ODI team from 1972 to 1974, and was the first New Zealand captain to record a victory over Australia.^[2] Congdon was principally a batsman but also became a useful medium-pace bowler midway through his career. The Test captaincy brought out his best cricket: before becoming captain he had played 31 Tests and scored 1,569 runs at an average of 26.59 and had taken 12 wickets, but during his 17 Tests as captain he scored 1,067 runs at 41.03 and took 33 wickets.^[3]

Congdon's finest moments in Tests included the tour of England in 1973 when he scored 176 at Trent Bridge and 175 at Lord's in successive Tests, and the determined foray by the Kiwis to the West Indies in 1972, when he took over the captaincy from Graham Dowling. In the Trent Bridge match, New Zealand chased 479 in the final innings, falling short by only 38 runs. At the time, this was a Test record for a highest score in the fourth innings to lose a match. The innings at Lord's contributed to New Zealand making 551, their highest score in Tests at the time.

In 1975, Congdon became the first New Zealand batsman to score an ODI century at Basin Reserve. The second one was scored by Kane Williamson, 43 years later, on 6 January 2018 against Pakistan.

Asked afterwards how he prepared for Test cricket in his remote, intemperate South Island hometown, he replied that net pitches in Motueka prepared one for anything.

Honours

In the 1975 New Year Honours, Congdon was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to cricket.^[4]

References

^ "Former New Zealand captain Bevan Congdon dies". ESPN Cricinfo. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
^ "New Zealand's great day of fulfilment". espncricinfo. 13 March 1974. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
^ Matthew Appleby, New Zealand Test Cricket Captains, Reed, Auckland, 2002, p. 96.
^ "No. 46446". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 1 January 1975. p. 38.