Guy William Fitzroy Overton (8 June 1919 – 7 September 1993) was a New Zealand international

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 three

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 ...

in 1953–54. In domestic cricket he represented

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 ...

from 1945–46 to 1955–56.

Early career

A sheep farmer in Southland, R.T. Brittenden, ''New Zealand Cricketers'', A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1961, pp. 126–28. Overton played a number of games for Southland in the 1940s as a right-arm opening bowler before making his first-class debut for Otago. In 1944–45 he took 8 for 24 and 3 for 10 in a drawn two-day match against Otago. In 1945–46, after taking 4 for 28 and 6 for 13 for Southland against Otago, and 4 for 12 and 2 for 13 against North Otago, he played for Otago against the touring Australians, taking 3 for 86 in the first innings, including

Lindsay Hassett Arthur Lindsay Hassett (28 August 1913 – 16 June 1993) was an Australian cricketer who played for Victorian Bushrangers, Victoria and the Australia national cricket team, Australian national team. The diminutive Hassett was an elegant Batti ...

as his first first-class victim. He established himself in the Otago side in 1946–47. In his first

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 ...

match, against Canterbury, he took a hat-trick. In 1949–50 he took five or six wickets in the first innings of each of the three Plunket Shield matches and was the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 17 at 19.00. In 1952–53 he took 19 wickets at 18.52 in the Plunket Shield, and was selected to tour South Africa the following season.

Later career

Overton played in the First, Second and Fourth Tests in South Africa, taking nine wickets. At one stage in the first innings of the Fourth Test, "Overton, swinging the ball either way, took three wickets for one run in thirteen balls" to leave South Africa 125 for 5. When the New Zealanders played three matches in Australia on the way home, Overton took 7 for 52 in Western Australia's second innings, including the first three wickets in nine balls. He took coloured film of the tour, which was later screened publicly to cricket audiences. He played the 1954–55 season, in which he took 7 for 88 against

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 ...

, and retired after two games in 1955–56. Overton's tally of wickets exceeded his tally of runs, but he twice batted long enough at number 11 to give Otago victory by one wicket: 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 1948–49, when he and

Noel McGregor Spencer Noel McGregor (18 December 1931 – 21 November 2007) was a Test cricketer who played 25 Test matches for New Zealand between 1954–55 and 1964–65. He was the New Zealand Cricket Almanack Player of the Year in 1968. Domestic career N ...

put on 37 for the last wicket (Overton 8 not out) and against Wellington again in 1952–53, when he and Alan Gilbertson put on 25 (Overton 5 not out). His highest score was 17 not out in 1954–55, against Wellington once again, when he and

Les Watt __NOTOC__ Leslie Watt (17 September 1924 – 15 November 1996) was a New Zealand cricketer who played one Test match for the New Zealand national team, against England in March 1955. He was born at Waitati in Otago in 1924.McCarron A (2010) ...

took the Otago score from 139 for 9 to 205 all out.Otago v Wellington 1954–55
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Acclaim

Dick Brittenden Richard Trevor Brittenden (22 September 1919 – 10 June 2002) was from the 1950s to the 1980s New Zealand's most prominent cricket writer. Early life, family and career Brittenden was born at Rakaia on 22 September 1919, and was educated at ...

wrote, "No one in New Zealand cricket was more highly-regarded than Overton: no player can recall ever hearing a word said against him by anyone." After he retired from playing he became an umpire.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Overton, Guy 1919 births 1993 deaths New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers Southland cricketers 20th-century New Zealand farmers