Albert William Roberts (20 August 1909 – 13 May 1978) was a New Zealand Test

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 played in five

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

between 1930 and 1937.

Career as a batsman

Roberts made his first-class debut in 1927–28 at the age of 18 as a middle-order batsman 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 ...

. In 1929–30 he made 38 (top score) and 23 against the touring MCC, then after making 54, 70, 76 and 24 not out in his next two matches he was selected for New Zealand's first Test. However, he made only 3 and 5 and was one of several players left out of the side for the next Test. He scored his first century in 1930–31 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 ...

, when his 116 helped turn a 127-run first-innings deficit into a 139-run victory. In the 1931–32

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octo ...

season he scored 378 runs at 75.60, including 181 in 260 minutes against Wellington, when he added 278 in 220 minutes for the fourth wicket with

Curly Page Milford Laurenson "Curly" Page (8 May 1902 – 13 February 1987) was a New Zealand Test cricketer and rugby union player, who represented his country in both sports. Early life and family Born in Lyttelton on 8 May 1902, Page was the son of O ...

. The partnership set a new record for any wicket in the Plunket Shield. Roberts played in both Tests against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

at the end of the season, making 54 in the First Test. He also played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

for

Career as an all-rounder

Roberts' form fell away in 1932–33 and he did not play in the Tests against England. He spent the 1933 English season playing as a professional for

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in the Lancashire League, scoring 615 runs at 26.73 and taking 59 wickets with his medium-pace bowling at 14.72. Thereafter he played as an all-rounder. In 1935–36 he played in three of the four (non-Test) matches for New Zealand against the touring MCC side, batting at seven or eight and opening the bowling. In the match in

he made the top score of 75 not out, then took 3 for 33 and 3 for 39 as MCC narrowly avoided defeat. He toured England in 1937, making 510 runs at 24.28 and taking 62 wickets at 26.20. In the Tests he led the batting averages with 142 runs at 47.33, with a top score of 66 not out in the First Test, and took seven wickets at 29.85. He missed the second of the three Tests with a shoulder injury. ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' described him as "an extremely useful member of the side, especially as he was a brilliant

slip Slip or The Slip may refer to: * Slip (clothing), an underdress or underskirt Music * The Slip (band), a rock band * ''Slip'' (album), a 1993 album by the band Quicksand * ''The Slip'' (album) (2008), a.k.a. Halo 27, the seventh studio al ...

. Moreover he had a way of getting runs when they were wanted". Playing for Riccarton in senior Christchurch cricket in March 1938, Roberts scored 214 not out in a little over two hours, with 10 sixes and 24 fours. He continued to play for Canterbury, then after

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 ...

he played for

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 ...

, continuing until the age of 41. He scored his third and last first-class century against Canterbury in 1946–47, when he saved the match for Otago with 44 and 110 not out. At the time of his retirement he held the record for the number of Plunket Shield matches played: 44.

Assessment

Dick Brittenden Richard Trevor Brittenden (22 September 1919 – 10 June 2002) was from the 1950s to the 1980s New Zealand's most prominent cricket writer. Early life, family and career Brittenden was born at Rakaia on 22 September 1919, and was educated at ...

called Roberts a "diverting mass of contradictions": "He took his magnificent athletic slip catches, he could hit with primitive force, and when he bowled, his out-swinger whipped away like a live thing. Yet he always looked tired, half asleep, absolutely casual and relaxed."

Personal life

On 11 January 1939 Roberts married Jean McLeod at

St Paul's Church, Christchurch St Paul's Church was a heritage-listed former Presbyterian church in Cashel Street, Christchurch. Built in 1877, the church was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage building. Following the February 2011 Ch ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Alby 1909 births 1978 deaths New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers Canterbury cricketers Otago cricketers Canterbury rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players