Richard Charles Motz (12 January 1940 – 29 April 2007) was 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. A right-arm fast bowler and hard-hitting lower order batsman, Motz played 32

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 ...

for the

New Zealand national cricket team The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Nicknamed the Black Caps (), they played their first Test cricket, Test in 1930 against England cricket team, England in Christchurch, becoming the f ...

between 1961 and 1969. He was the first bowler for New Zealand to take 100 wickets in

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

Motz was 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 ...

. He was educated at North New Brighton primary school and Linwood High School, excelling as an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...

at both. He also played rugby, tennis, badminton and golf. He played as full-back for the New Brighton rugby team for two years after leaving school.

Domestic career

He played domestic cricket 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 ...

, making his debut in the

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 ...

in 1957, while still a schoolboy, taking 4 for 40 at his first outing. He made his reputation as a hostile fast bowler, and a big-hitting lower order batsman. His best first-class performances were in New Zealand domestic cricket. He took 8 wickets for 61 runs 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 ...

in 1966–67, and scored 103 not out 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 ...

in 1967–68, making his only first-class century inside an hour. On tour to Australia in 1967–68, he scored 94 against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, including 76 runs from boundaries (6 sixes and 10 fours).

International career

He was one of five New Zealand players and seven

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to make their Test debut in the 1st Test at

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in December 1961. He took 81 wickets on the tour, at a bowling average of 19, including 19 wickets in the five Tests. He took five wickets in an innings five times in Tests, once in England and twice at home against each of India and West Indies. He was also a handy lower-order batsman, scoring three Test half-centuries, all at home against England. In 1968, he was the first bowler to be banned from bowling in a Test due to running on the

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

. In his last Test, the third Test against

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The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

in August 1969, Motz became the first New Zealand bowler to take 100

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s when he trapped Phil Sharpe

leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a Batting (cricket), batter can be dismissal (cricket), dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an Appeal (cricket), appeal by the Fielding (cricket), fielding side, the umpire (cricket), ...

(his only wicket of the match).Obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 7 May 2007 Motz was ''New Zealand Cricket Almanack'' Player of the Year in 1961, ''South African Cricket Annual'' Cricketer of the Year in 1962, and a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1966.

After cricket

Motz's playing career ended at the age of 29, after he was found to have a displaced

vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

– indeed, he had been playing with a bad back for over a year. After his retirement from cricket, he became a taxi driver. He also ran a sports business, and then ran a pub in

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

. In later years, he put on considerable weight, ending over 30 stone. He was inducted to the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the hall ...

in 1997. He was married twice. His first marriage, to cricketer Loretta Todd, ended in divorce in 1987. They had a son and two daughters. His son, Wayne, was murdered in 1989. He remarried, to Josephine Cole. He died in

. Obituary
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 11 May 2007 He was found dead at his home by his former captain, Graham Dowling. He was survived by his two daughters from his first marriage. A monograph titled 'Working Man's Hero' written by Bill Francis was published in 2022.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Motz, Dick Canterbury cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year 1940 births 2007 deaths New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Linwood College D. H. Robins' XI cricketers South Island cricketers