Iain Gallaway

Iain Gallaway

QSO MBE
Personal information
Full name
Iain Watson Gallaway
Born(1922-12-26)26 December 1922
Dunedin, New Zealand
Died18 April 2021(2021-04-18) (aged 98)
Dunedin, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
RoleWicket-keeper
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1946/47–1947/48Otago
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 3
Runs scored 26
Batting average 8.66
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 22
Catches/stumpings 7/1
Source: CricketArchive, 31 January 2011

Iain Watson Gallaway QSO MBE (26 December 1922 – 18 April 2021) was a New Zealand broadcaster, lawyer and cricketer. He was a commentator on the radio station Radio Sport, and a first-class cricketer. Between January 2021 and his death, Gallaway was New Zealand's oldest living first-class cricketer.

Early life

Gallaway was born in Dunedin, Otago, on 26 December 1922.[1] He attended Christ's College, Christchurch,[2] and the University of Otago. His first job was as a cadet reporter for the Otago Daily Times.[3]

Gallaway served in the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II, patrolling the Atlantic and the North Sea on a D-class cruiser.[4][2] After his stint in the navy, he studied law at the University of New Zealand in Dunedin[5] and worked as a lawyer in the Dunedin firm that is now Gallaway Cook Allan.[6] He went on to become an officer of the Otago Law Society and the New Zealand Law Society.[3]

Career

Gallaway played three first-class cricket matches for Otago between 1946 and 1948 as a right-handed lower-order batsman and wicketkeeper.[1][7] In his first match against Wellington he took six catches.[8] He also acted as an international rugby referee, officiating a Southland match against Australia in 1949, and West Coast against the British Lions the following year.[9]

In a radio commentary career that extended from 1953 to 1992, Gallaway broadcast about 500 rugby matches and numerous cricket matches, mostly from the Carisbrook ground in Dunedin.[10][11] He also accompanied the New Zealand Test cricket team to Pakistan and India in 1955–56 – the first time a broadcaster had toured with a New Zealand Test team – as well as serving as the sole New Zealand Press Association correspondent on the tour.[12]

Gallaway retired from broadcasting after the 1992 Cricket World Cup, concerned that his declining eyesight would cause him to make incorrect calls.[9] The final match he broadcast was New Zealand's victory over India in the round-robin stage.[8] Gallaway's book Not a Cloud in the Sky: The Autobiography of Iain Gallaway was published five years later in 1997.[13] He was the official patron of the Otago Cricket Association until his death.[3]

Honours and recognition

Gallaway was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1978 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to rugby and cricket.[14] In the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service,[15] specifically for his work as chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin over a quarter of a century.[3] He received a Halberg Award for services to sport in 1999.[8][4] Gallaway was awarded life membership of New Zealand Cricket in 2010.[16]

Upon the death of Alan Burgess on 6 January 2021, Gallaway became the oldest living New Zealand first-class cricketer.[17] When Gallaway died, that honour passed to Peter Arnold.[18]

Personal life

Gallaway was married to his wife, Virginia, until her death. Together, they had four children, Sarah, Annie, Garth, and Alice.[19] Garth has worked as a cricket commentator on Radio Sport and as a lawyer in Christchurch, and is Chair of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.[20]

Gallaway died on 18 April 2021, at the age of 98.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b "Iain Gallaway". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Rugby and Cricket: New Zealanders in England". Otago Daily Times: 2. 8 June 1944.
  3. ^ a b c d "Rugby commentator Iain Gallaway dies aged 98". Radio New Zealand. 19 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b "My Life at war". Critic. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Successful students in law examinations". Gisborne Herald: 4. 18 April 1949.
  6. ^ "Sports law". Gallaway Cook Allan. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Iain Gallaway". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  8. ^ a b c Salter, Jack (12 February 2012). "Sports broadcasting: Gallaway to be honoured". Otago Daily Times. Dunedin. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Iain Gallaway: Much loved commentator was 'professional' in everything he did". Radio New Zealand. 19 April 2021.
  10. ^ Sports broadcasting: Gallaway to be honoured Retrieved 30 May 2013
  11. ^ Edwards, Brent (22 July 2011). "Greatest moments in Otago sport - Number 100". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  12. ^ Don Neely & Richard Payne, Men in White: The History of New Zealand International Cricket, 1894–1985, Moa, Auckland, 1986, p. 258.
  13. ^ Gallaway, Iain (1997). Not a Cloud in the Sky: The Autobiography of Iain Gallaway. ISBN 9781869502645. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  14. ^ "No. 47551". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 3 June 1978. p. 6271.
  15. ^ "No. 50553". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 14 June 1986. p. 32.
  16. ^ "Cricket: Gallaway made life member". Otago Daily Times. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  17. ^ "Alan Burgess, New Zealand first-class cricketer and World War II veteran, dies aged 100". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  18. ^ "April 19, 2001 by Rick Eyre". Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  19. ^ "Iain Gallaway death notice". The Dominion Post. Wellington. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Garth Gallaway". The Arts Foundation. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  21. ^ "Cricket and rugby commentator Iain Gallaway dies aged 98". The New Zealand Herald. 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.