Harold Vincent Stapleton (7 January 1915 – 24 September 2015) was an Australian

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 a single first-class match for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1941. He was one of only three Australian first-class cricketers to live past the age of 100, the others being Ted Martin and Jack Laver. Born in

Kyogle Kyogle () is a town in the Northern Rivers region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It falls within the Local government in Australia, local government area of Kyogle Council. At the 2016 Australian census, 2016 census, Kyogle had a popu ...

, Stapleton played in a number of minor matches during the 1930s, including for Lismore, Northern New South Wales, and the New South Wales colts and second XI teams. He played his single first-class match for New South Wales 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 ...

in February 1941, the final match of the war-interrupted 1940–41 season. He scored one run in New South Wales' only innings, and failed to take a wicket from ten eight-ball overs, opening the bowling with

Vic Jackson Victor Edward Jackson (25 October 1916 – 30 January 1965) was an Australian first-class cricketer who played for New South Wales and Leicestershire County Cricket Club. From Australia to Cahn's XI Jackson made his first-class debut during t ...

. Stapleton enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in April of the same year, serving as a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

. Having served in New Guinea, Stapleton was discharged from service in January 1946, and took up employment with an oil company based in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

. He continued to play cricket with

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

in the

Sydney grade cricket NSW Premier Cricket, formerly and still commonly known as Sydney Grade Cricket is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia, and is highest level club cricket competition in the state of New South Wales The competition began in 1893 when ...

competition, and finished his career with 2,242 runs at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 32.49 and 93 wickets at an average of 17.56. On the death of Ernie Crossan in August 2009, Stapleton became the oldest living Australian first-class cricketer. Stapleton died at the age of 100 on 24 September 2015. He was the oldest lived New South Wales cricketer, surpassing George Moore's record.Harold Stapleton becomes longest-living New South Wales cricketer
– Bradman Foundation. Published 21 July 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Harold 1915 births 2015 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian cricketers Australian Army personnel of World War II Cricketers from New South Wales New South Wales cricketers St George cricketers Australian men centenarians People from the Northern Rivers 20th-century Australian sportsmen

See also

References