Bruce Carlyle Irving (born 19 August 1932) is a former 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. He played in nineteen first-class matches, mostly 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 ...

, between 1962 and 1973. Born 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 ...

, Irving was educated at Christchurch West High School. He was an

off-spin Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to ...

bowler who had the ability to turn the ball at a brisk pace. John Reid, ''A Million Miles of Cricket'', A. H. & A. W. Reed, Wellington, 1966, pp. 100–9. He made his first-class debut on Christmas Day 1962 at the age of 30, taking seven wickets (match figures of 32.3–12–78–7) as Canterbury defeated Otago by 113 runs at

Carisbrook Carisbrook (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Carisbrook Stadium) was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, ...

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 ...

. He was selected to play for a New Zealand Cricket Council President's XI against the touring Pakistanis in 1964–65, as the selectors were hoping to find spin bowlers who might succeed on the approaching tour of India, Pakistan and England. He took two wickets and, batting at number 11, made his highest first-class score of 23, but was not selected in the touring side. Irving had a career of more than 30 seasons for the Lancaster Park club in senior cricket in the Canterbury Cricket Association competition. During the 1977–78 season he became the second-highest wicket-taker in the competition's history when he took his 860th wicket. During the 1981–82 season he became the second player, after Reg Read, to take 1,000 wickets. A few weeks later he set a competition record when he took his 149th catch. He retired aged 54 during the 1986–87 season after 327 matches (the competition record), 175 catches (also a record), and 1,160 wickets (second after Read).

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Bruce 1932 births Living people People educated at Christchurch West High School New Zealand cricketers Canterbury cricketers Cricketers from Christchurch