Arnold Butler Williams (6 January 1870 – 20 August 1929) was a Welsh-born 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

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 ...

and

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 ...

between the 1886–87 and 1909–10 seasons, and captained

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 the days before New Zealand played

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

Early life

Arnold Williams's father, William Butler Williams, brought his family to New Zealand in 1880 when he took up an appointment as a master at

Otago Boys' High School Otago Boys' High School (OBHS) is a secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is one of New Zealand's oldest boys' secondary schools. Originally known as Dunedin High School, it was founded on 3 August 1863 and moved to its present site in 18 ...

. He taught there and at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

until his death in 1895. Arnold was one of three sons and four daughters and was educated at Otago Boys' High, where he played cricket.McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 140. Cardiff:

The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 5 June 2023.)Williams, Mr Arnold Butler, Obituaries in 1929, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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 ...

'', 1930.
Available online
at

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 17 February 2024.

Career with Otago

Arnold Williams, "entertaining as a batsman of the punishing type and brilliant as a wicket-keeper",'' Evening Post'', 22 August 1929, p. 4. made his first-class debut for Otago against

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 1886–87 at the age of 17. Playing as a middle-order batsman, he scored 3 and 9. Thereafter he mostly played as a wicketkeeper-batsman. He played regularly for Otago between until 1894–95, but in his first nine first-class matches his highest score was 19.Arnold Williams
CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 February 2024.

Career with Wellington and New Zealand

In 1895 he moved to Wellington, where for some years he was one of the highest scorers in Wellington club cricket. On the basis of his club form he was selected in the New Zealand team of 15 to play the Australians in November 1896. After scoring 21 in the first innings of 129, he scored 73 out of 247 in the second innings. Writing 50 years later Dan Reese said this innings, "considering the calibre of the bowling, still ranks as one of the finest innings ever played for this country". A few weeks later, in his first first-class match for Wellington, he scored 163 against Canterbury, an innings the '' Evening Post'' reporter described as "magnificent ... stamps him as being at the present time the best batsman in the colony". It set a record for the highest first-class score for Wellington. Williams was selected to tour Australia with the New Zealanders in 1898–99 but had to withdraw when he was unable to obtain leave. Dan Reese believed Williams was "the best batsman in New Zealand at this time". Williams captained Wellington in seven matches between 1902–03 and 1909–10. In the 13 first-class matches of the 1906–07 season he was the only New Zealander to score a century. For Wellington against MCC he made 100 in just over two hours, with 16 fours, putting on 26 for the last wicket with

Ernest Upham Ernest Frederick Upham (24 March 1873 – 23 October 1935) was a New Zealand national cricket team, New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Wellington cricket team, Wellington from 1892 to 1910. Cricket career Ernie Upham bowle ...

to reach his century and pass MCC's first-innings total. Later that season he captained New Zealand in the second match against MCC after MCC had won the first match. On a difficult pitch, against hostile fast bowling by

Johnny Douglas John William Henry Tyler Douglas (3 September 1882 – 19 December 1930) was an English cricketer who was active in the early decades of the twentieth century. Douglas was an all-rounder who played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1 ...

and Percy May, Williams made 72 not out in the second innings, the highest score of the match, putting on 107 for the fifth wicket with Alf Hadden. At one stage a blow to the elbow "disabled him for some minutes", but he continued to play "an innings of outstanding courage and skill". He led New Zealand to victory by 56 runs. When the cricket historian Tom Reese chose the best New Zealand team of all time in 1936, he named Williams as wicket-keeper. Williams also "enjoyed a high reputation as a rifle shot and as a billiards player".

Personal life

Williams' first wife died in February 1903 after they had been married only 14 months. He died at Wellington in 1929 at the age of 59, survived by his second wife, Edith.''Evening Post'', 21 August 1929, p. 1.Arnold Williams

. Retrieved 17 February 2024. An obituary was published in the 1930 edition of ''

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Arnold 1870 births 1929 deaths People educated at Otago Boys' High School Cricketers from Swansea Otago cricketers Wellington cricketers New Zealand cricketers Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Welsh cricketers North Island cricketers Wicket-keepers