Donald Charles Cleverley (23 December 1909 – 16 February 2004) 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. Cleverley played in two

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

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 ...

, 14 years apart, but failed to take a wicket in either match.

Domestic career

Born in

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

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 ...

, Cleverley was a right-arm fast-medium bowler and left-handed batsman. Cleverley played domestic

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for

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

over 21 seasons, from 1930/31 to 1951/52, before playing a final season in 1952–53 for

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

. He also played for Piako against the touring MCC side in February 1936, and for

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

against

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in the

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 ...

in December 1952.

International career

Cleverley played in New Zealand's inaugural Test match 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 Christchurch in February 1932. Cleverley bowled 22 overs without success, and scored 10* and 7 with the bat, and New Zealand were beaten by an innings and 12 runs. He also played in the notorious one-off Test against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 March 1946, New Zealand's first Test against

. Electing to bat first on a rain-affected pitch, New Zealand were bowled out for 42 inside two hours on the first morning. Australia scored runs as the pitch dried out, and ended the day at 149–3, but lost quick wickets after they resumed on a damp wicket the next morning and declared on 199–8. This was more than sufficient, and New Zealand were bowled out for 54 inside another two hours, to lose by an innings and 103 runs. Cleverley bowled 15 overs without taking a wicket, and was the not-out batsman on one run in each innings. After this debacle, which highlighted the gap in quality between the sides, Australia and New Zealand did not play against each other in Test cricket until 1973.

Trivia

Cleverley holds the record for the longest time between the last dismissal and end of a Test match career – 14 years and 29 days (1 March 1932 to 30 March 1946). On the death of M. J. Gopalan in 2003, Cleverley became the oldest living Test cricketer. He died in

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at the age of 94, and he was succeeded as the oldest living Test cricketer by his compatriot

Eric Tindill Eric William Thomas Tindill (18 December 1910 – 1 August 2010) was a New Zealand sportsman. Tindill held a number of unique records: he was the oldest ever Test cricketer at the time of his death, the only person to play Tests for New Zeala ...

, who also played in the Test match against Australia in 1946.Don Cleverley, oldest Test cricketer, dies aged 94
ESPNcricinfo, 16 February 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleverley, Don 1909 births 2004 deaths Cricketers from Oamaru New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers Auckland cricketers Central Districts cricketers