Alan Thomas Burgess (1 May 1920 – 6 January 2021) was a New Zealand cricketer who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

from 1940 to 1952. He was a

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

driver in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. From June 2020 to January 2021, Burgess was the world's oldest living first-class cricketer.

Life and career

Alan Burgess's father

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

was a

cricket umpire In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French meaning not a peer, i.e. not a member of one of the teams, impartial) is a person who has the authority to make decisions about events on the cricket field according to the ''Laws of Cricket''. Besides ...

who stood in a Test match in

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 ...

in 1933. Alan's cousin was Gordon Burgess, a cricketer and administrator whose son

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

captained the New Zealand Test team in the 1970s.Francis Payne & Ian Smith, eds, ''2021 New Zealand Cricket Almanack'', Upstart Press, Takapuna, 2021, p. 30. Burgess attended Phillipstown School in

before becoming an apprentice

upholsterer Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially chair, seats, with padding, Spring (device), springs, webbing, and textile, fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' com ...

. In his first first-class match in December 1940 Burgess played as a bowler, taking 6 for 52 and 3 for 51 with his left-arm spin against

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

. Later that season he batted as high as number seven, scoring 61 not out against

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 ...

. He joined the

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

when he turned 21 in 1941, and was soon posted overseas. He served in Egypt and Italy as a

driver in the 20th Armoured Regiment. He fought in the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

in 1944. After the war ended in Europe he toured England with the New Zealand Services team from July to September 1945, playing as a batsman. He made another score of 61 not out in the only first-class match. In nine matches for Canterbury between 1945–46 and 1951–52, Burgess's top score was 42 against

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 ...

in 1950–51, when he put on 105 for the first wicket with

Ray Emery Raymond Robert Emery (''né'' Nichols; September 28, 1982 – July 15, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for eleven seasons, between 2003 and 2015. Emery was chosen 99th over ...

. Burgess ran his own upholstery business in Christchurch. He was married twice, and had three children. He lived in

Rangiora Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury Region, Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the ...

. He became New Zealand's oldest living first-class cricketer when Tom Pritchard died in August 2017. Burgess celebrated his 100th birthday in May 2020. On 13 June 2020, following the death of

Vasant Raiji Vasant Naisadrai Raiji (26 January 1920 – 13 June 2020) was an Indian first-class cricketer and cricket historian. He featured in nine first class matches between 1939 and 1950. Life and career Raiji was born in Baroda. Representing a Crick ...

, Burgess became the oldest living first-class cricketer. He died in

on 6 January 2021 at the age of 100. Following Burgess' death, India's Raghunath Chandorkar became the oldest living first-class cricketer, and Iain Gallaway became New Zealand's oldest living first-class cricketer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Alan 1920 births 2021 deaths Canterbury cricketers Cricketers from Christchurch New Zealand men centenarians New Zealand cricketers New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand Services cricketers New Zealand people of English descent

Life and career

See also

References

External links