Francis James Cameron (1 June 1932 – 2 January 2023) 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 who played 19

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for

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 ...

as a

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

. Cameron took three five-wicket-hauls in an innings during his Test career for New Zealand, two of them during his first tour 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 ...

in 1961–62, where New Zealand drew 2–2 in the five–Test series. During that series, he was dismissed once in nine innings, and finished with a batting average of 17. In 30 Test innings, he ended up

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in two thirds of them, which might have contributed to his career batting average of 11.6 – he only made it into double figures three times with the bat.

Early life and family

Cameron was born in

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 ...

on 1 June 1932, and educated at Christian Brothers' High School. He went on to study 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 ...

, and completed a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1957.

International career

Cameron made his Test debut at Kingsmead in

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along with five other New Zealanders, and took six wickets in that first match, more than any other New Zealand bowler bar Jack Alabaster. However, though his bowling helped to keep the winning target down to 197, New Zealand lost the match by 30 runs after Peter Pollock took six for 38 in reply. In the second Test, Cameron celebrated his first five-wicket-haul, which included a brace of wickets of South Africa's number four and five. Cameron also dismissed South Africa's number three and six on his way to five for 83, but South Africa took a lead of 99 on first innings of the four-day match. After thirteen wicketless overs in the second innings, Cameron was not required to bat as New Zealand batted out 68 overs for the draw. Cameron got a five-wicket-haul in the next match as well, taking five for 48 as South Africa were bowled out for 190, 195 behind New Zealand's first innings total. Cameron was then part of an unbeaten 49-run tenth-wicket partnership with

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

Artie Dick, before New Zealand declared, setting a target of 408 for South Africa to chase in a little over a day of the four-day match. After Alabaster had taken the first three wickets, South Africa were 315 for 5 before Cameron got his first wicket of the innings – dismissing Kim Elgie for 12. Still, he bowled economically, conceding 42 from his 26 overs, with only captain John Reid having a lower economy rate, and with the help of Reid's two wickets at the end South Africa were bowled out for 335, giving New Zealand their first Test win away from home. With the series tied at 1–1 with two matches to go, New Zealand had a shout at gaining their first series win. That was quickly quenched – Cameron bowled 30 wicketless overs in the fourth Test at the Wanderers, and New Zealand's batting yielded twice as South Africa registered a win by an innings and 51 runs. Still, New Zealand drew the series, after Cameron took the final wicket. His match bowling figures then read 28.5–7–94–2, but with the final ball of the over he had South Africa's number 11 Harry Bromfield caught. Bromfield had been batting for the past half hour without scoring a run, though he had been in a partnership of 14 with 55 runs required for the win or 21 minutes required for the draw. Thus, Cameron finished his maiden Test series with 20 wickets at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 24.65. Cameron's next series was against

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at home in 1962–63, but it was not as successful, as the team suffered two innings defeats and a seven-wicket loss as they were whitewashed 0–3. Cameron got eight wickets in the series, including four for 118 in the first Test, where he was the only New Zealand bowler to take more than one wicket. South Africa came to tour New Zealand the next summer, but in three drawn Tests Cameron failed to take more than three wickets in any innings, and ended with nine wickets at the average of 35.22. Another 0–0 series followed the next summer, against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, though Cameron registered his best match figures of nine for 70 in the second Test. Chasing 220 to win in four hours, however, New Zealand were set back by Pervez Sajjad, who took four wickets for no runs in ten balls to set New Zealand back from 102 for 2 to 102 for 6, and they closed on 166 for 7. In the third Test, New Zealand were set 314 in 83 overs, and batted out to the drawn series. New Zealand played seven Tests on the subcontinent that summer, four in India and three in Pakistan, but Cameron only played one of the India games – the final Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla. After three drawn Tests had opened the series, Cameron took one for 86 as India took a 203-run lead on first innings, and though Cameron made a career-best 27

in a 51-run ninth-wicket stand with Richard Collinge, India were set a target of 70. Cameron was taken for 29 in four overs, and though he dismissed M. L. Jaisimha

hit wicket Hit wicket is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is governed by Law 35 of the Laws of Cricket. The striker is out "hit wicket" if, after the bowler has entered his delivery stride and while the ball is in pla ...

, India won by seven wickets. The tour of Pakistan saw New Zealand lose the first Test by an innings and 64 runs after falling to 79 in their second innings, and Cameron was brought into the team in place of Bryan Yuile. He took six wickets for 105 in the match, but Pakistan still drew the game – before winning the third Test after chasing down 202 to win. Cameron failed to take a wicket in the chase, though his 108-minute last-wicket stand of 63 with Bev Congdon was a New Zealand tenth-wicket record. Cameron went on one last tour – aged 33, he went to England in the 1965 season and played two of the three Tests there. After bowling figures of 32–5–122–0 in a tour match against

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, Cameron was left out of the team to play the third Test. He did play the last three tour matches against

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and

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, taking 19 wickets, but was never selected again for Test cricket, and retired after the 1966–67 season.

Post-playing career

Cameron served as a New Zealand selector from 1968 to 1986, and as chairman of the selection panel from 1975 to 1986. He also served as match referee in three Tests and five

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s. A schoolteacher, Cameron rose to become deputy principal of Otago Boys' High School. In 1983, he married Linley Rose Waters. In the 1987 New Year Honours, Cameron was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to cricket. Cameron died 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 ...

on 2 January 2023, aged 90.

References

External links

*
Lynn McConnell, "Cameron was the common factor in New Zealand's greatest days"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Frank 1932 births 2023 deaths New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Cricketers from Dunedin People educated at Trinity Catholic College, Dunedin University of Otago alumni New Zealand schoolteachers New Zealand cricket administrators New Zealand referees and umpires South Island cricketers