Blair Earle Soper (born 26 October 1991) is a New Zealand

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 has 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 ...

in top-level matches. Soper was born at

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

in 1991 and grew up in Southland before moving to as a child Dunedin due to his father, Ewan's, work. He was educated 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 ...

. His uncle, Grant Soper, played

Hawke Cup The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat ...

cricket for SouthlandSavory L (2013
Caveman look 'working so far' for Blair Soper

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong Fictional c ...

, 14 December 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2023. and Soper played age-group cricket for Otago and in 2009 featured in a trial match for selection for the national under-19 side before being selected in the preliminary New Zealand squad for the

2010 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was the eighth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup and took place in New Zealand. Since 1998, the tournament has been held every 2 years. This edition had 16 teams competing in 44 matches between 15 ...

.Blair Soper
CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 June 2023. Otago Boys High School: Blair Soper
''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (''ODT'') is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and ...

'', 9 September 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2023. As well as cricket, Soper represented Otago age-group sides in

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

. Soper made his first-class debut on 12 November 2012 in the 2015–16 Plunket Shield. After playing in four

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 ...

matches during the season and taking 12 wickets, including a

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

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 ...

, the "promising up-and-comer" was awarded a contract with Otago in July for the following season. He established himself as a regular in Otago's Shield side, playing in the team's first six matches of the season, before a shoulder injury meant he was unable to play.Seconi A (2019
Soper 'happy to be back' after long break
''

'', 21 November 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2023. The injury required surgery and Soper lost his place in the side. He played in one Shield match towards the end of the 2015–16 season but only bowled 7.3 overs before suffering another injury.van Royen R (2016
Cricket: First game for Soper since 2014
''

'', 24 May 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2023. He returned to the side in November 2019 and played in two

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

matches, making debut on 21 November 2019 against

in the

2019–20 Ford Trophy The 2019–20 Ford Trophy was the 49th season of The Ford Trophy, the List A cricket tournament in New Zealand. It was the ninth in a sponsorship deal between New Zealand Cricket and Ford Motor Company. It took place between November 2019 and F ...

, replacing the injured Michael Rae. He took a wicket in the first over of the Wellington innings, his only List A wicket. Soper has played club cricket for Green island Cricket Club. Whilst out of the Otago side he studied an automotive course at

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic is a public Education in New Zealand#Tertiary education, New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell, New Zealand, Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provides career-f ...

and works as a mechanic.Middle & Leg: Small shorts, big beards & the John drought
''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand ...

'', November 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2023.

References

External links

* 1991 births Living people New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers Cricketers from Dunedin People educated at Otago Boys' High School 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-cricket-bio-1990s-stub