Ian Shaw Billcliff (born 26 October 1972) is a Canadian former

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. Although born in Canada, he grew up in New Zealand. Billcliff made his debut in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

in 1991 for

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 New Zealand domestic cricket, and in 1992 he played twice for the New Zealand Under-19 team. He later played for

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 ...

from 1995 to 1997, and then 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 ...

from 1997 to 1999. After leaving Auckland, he played club cricket in England in the Surrey League. Billcliff became interested in playing a season in Canada and got in contact with the Canadian cricket president via an ICC Development Manager. Having revealed his place-of-birth, he was immediately chosen for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's squad in the

2001 ICC Trophy The 2001 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament played in Ontario, Canada in 2001. It was the Cricket World Cup qualification tournament for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Three spots in the World Cup were on offer and the Netherlands, host nation Cana ...

, and was an important part of the team who achieved a third-place finish, thus progressing to the World Cup. He made important contributions in the World Cup matches, including a 42 in the match against

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, and a 71 in the match against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. Between the 2003 World Cup and 2007 World Cup he played just two

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 for Canada, against

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in August 2006. He did feature for Canada in other tournaments, including the

2005 ICC Trophy The 2005 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament held in Ireland between 1 July and 13 July 2005. It was an international one-day tournament played over 50 overs per side between 12 Associate Members of the International Cricket Council. It served a ...

, the

ICC Americas Championship The ICC Americas Championship is a one-day cricket tournament organised by ICC Americas for non-Test national cricket teams in the Americas affiliated with the International Cricket Council. As well as providing the opportunity for national te ...

in 2004 and 2006, and the

2004 ICC Intercontinental Cup The 2004 ICC Intercontinental Cup was the inaugural edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup first class cricket tournament, an international cricket tournament between nations who have not been awarded Test cricket, Test status by the Internatio ...

where he captained the side. Billcliff continued to play cricket in New Zealand, but only in club cricket in Auckland where he has played for Cornwall. In the 2006–07 season, he played for the newly formed University/Ellerslie club, a merger between

Auckland University The University of Auckland (; Māori language, Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the Unive ...

Cricket Club and Ellerslie Cricket Club.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Billcliff, Ian 1972 births Auckland cricketers Canada One Day International cricketers Canada Twenty20 International cricketers Canadian cricketers Cariboo people Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup People educated at Otago Boys' High School Living people Canadian emigrants to New Zealand Otago cricketers Cricketers from British Columbia Wellington cricketers New Zealand cricketers