Bruce Adrian Edgar (born 23 November 1956) is a former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in both

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

and

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) format. A chartered accountant by profession, Edgar played as a left-handed opening batsman and an occasional wicketkeeper during one of New Zealand's most successful eras in international cricket. He gained respect across the cricket world for his courage against the fastest bowlers of his era (which included greats like

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

Michael Holding Michael Anthony Holding (born 16 February 1954) is a Jamaican former cricketer and commentator who played for the West Indies cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pace bowlers in cricket history, he was nicknamed "Whispering De ...

Bob Willis Robert George Dylan Willis (born 30 May 1949 – 4 December 2019) was an English cricketer, who represented England between 1971 and 1984. A right-handed fast bowler, Willis is regarded by many as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all tim ...

and

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is a retired Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

), his classically straight batting technique, and his outstanding teamwork. In 1981, Edgar became the first cricketer to be unbeaten on 99 in an ODI innings

Early life and playing career

Edgar was born and raised in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

. His father,

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

, had represented

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in a few first-class matches. He was educated at

Rongotai College Rongotai College is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in the southeastern suburb of Rongotai, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), the school has students as of . About 55 percent of the students are of Eu ...

, where he attracted attention for his brilliant batting, but would later curb his attacking instincts for the sake of the team when opening for both Wellington and later New Zealand. In internationals, he formed a successful opening partnership with fellow left-hander John Wright. Edgar was at the non-striker's end during the infamous underarm bowling incident which occurred on 1 February 1981 during the third World Series Cup final between New Zealand and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

. His striking partner,

Brian McKechnie Brian John McKechnie (born 6 November 1953) is a former "double All Black" - representing New Zealand in both rugby union and cricket. He was born at Gore in Southland and educated at Southland Boys' High School.McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand ...

, needed a six to tie the match from the final ball. Australian bowler

Trevor Chappell Trevor Martin Chappell (born 12 October 1952) is a former Australian cricketer, a member of the South Australian Chappell family which excelled at cricket. He played 3 tests and 20 One Day Internationals for Australia. He won the Sheffield Shi ...

, on orders from the team captain and older brother

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminent ...

, bowled the ball underarm, rolling it on the ground to prevent McKechnie from getting the six and winning the match for Australia, with McKechnie hurling his bat away in disgust and Edgar aiming a

V-sign The ''V'' sign is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a ''V'' shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented. When dis ...

towards Trevor Chappell. The unfortunate part of the incident was that, at the time, Edgar was 102 not-out for the innings, his only one-day international century and highest score. It is often considered "the most overlooked

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

of all time." The following season, some consolation for Edgar is the fact that his highest test score, 161, was against Greg Chappell's Australians at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. New Zealand won this Test match, only their second against Australia, by five wickets and took a 1–0 lead in the three-test series, with Edgar named Man of the Match. The series was drawn 1–1, after Australia won the final test by eight wickets at

Lancaster Park Lancaster Park, also known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 earthqu ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. Edgar topped the Kiwi batting averages with 278 runs at 55.60.

Life after playing career

In 1981, Bruce Edgar was professional for the Hyde team which won the Central Lancashire League championship. He was later involved with the Gordon Grade Cricket Club in Sydney. He coached the A.W. Greenshield team in the 2010–11 season. In August 2013, Edgar returned to his homeland to take up the part-time position of General Manager national selection with

New Zealand Cricket New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New ...

. His main role would be to coordinate a selection panel that would report to head coach Mike Hesson. Edgar resigned from his position in May 2015. While reduced work and pay, as well as lack of support from the board were key reasons, Edgar also mentioned the less-than-hospitable experiences at the

2015 Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...

, including having to sit with the wives and girlfriends of the Australian players during the final, a situation he described as "awkward". The following month, Edgar was appointed Head Coach of

on a three-year contract, replacing

Jamie Siddons James Darren Siddons (born 25 April 1964) is an Australian cricketer, renowned for his involvement in Sheffield Shield first-class cricket over a 16-year career. He initially played for Victoria, and later for South Australia. He is currently a ...

. Edgar has worked in financial services since his retirement from international cricket. As of 2024 he is a director at Booster Financial Services. He also chairs the Cricketers' Retirement Fund and the New Zealand Rugby Players Savings Scheme.

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Brittenden, Dick and Cameron, Don (1982). ''Test Series 82'', AH and AW Reed Ltd, Wellington and NSW.

External Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar, Bruce New Zealand cricketers 1956 births Living people New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand One Day International cricketers Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup Wellington cricketers New Zealand cricket coaches Wicket-keepers 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen