James William Condliffe (30 July 1888 – 23 November 1945) was a

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 ...

who played

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 1909 to 1923 and played five times 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 ...

in the days before New Zealand played

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

Cricket career

For Otago

James Condliffe made his first-class debut for Otago in 1909–10, and played as Otago's regular wicket-keeper until

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He won the award for the best batting average in senior Dunedin cricket in the 1912–13 season. He was selected to play for New Zealand against the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

early in 1914 when Charles Boxshall, who had occupied the wicket-keeping position for the previous 15 years, was unavailable. He made 25 and, opening the batting in the second innings, 23 in a first-wicket partnership of 80 with Harry Whitta. After New Zealand lost the match, Condliffe was one of only four New Zealand players who kept their place in the team for the second match against Australia. He served as a driver with the

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

in the New Zealand forces in World War I. He was wounded at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

For Wellington

After the war Condliffe resumed his cricket career, playing for Wellington as their regular wicket-keeper from 1917–18 to 1922–23. He made his top score of 62 against

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 1919–20: after Wellington had been 47 for 6, he batted for 160 minutes and with the help of the tail-enders took the score to 262.''

The Press ''The Press'' () is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand, owned by media business Stuff (company), Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday t ...

'', 10 January 1920, p. 7. He played twice for New Zealand against MCC in 1922–23. He was replaced as Wellington's keeper by the 19-year-old Ken James in 1923–24, but although Condliffe was no longer playing domestic first-class cricket, he played one final match for New Zealand in 1924–25.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Condliffe, James 1888 births 1945 deaths New Zealand cricketers Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Wellington cricketers Otago cricketers Cricketers from Wellington City New Zealand military personnel of World War I Wicket-keepers