Sir Joseph Augustine Ongley (5 February 1918 – 22 October 2000) 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 and lawyer. He was a judge of the

New Zealand Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Zealand () is the highest court and the court of last resort of New Zealand. It formally came into being on 1 January 2004 and sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It replaced the right of appeal to the Judicial Co ...

Early life

The son of Arthur "Joe" Ongley, he was born in

Feilding Feilding is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on New Zealand State Highway 54, State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. ...

and educated at St. Patrick's College, Silverstream, and Victoria College, Wellington, where he graduated

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in 1939. A "correct, polished and dashing" batsman, he made his

Hawke Cup The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat ...

debut for Manawatu at the age of 17 in 1935–36. He captained the team in its six matches in 1936–37 and 1937–38, when Manawatu, the champions, withstood five consecutive challenges.

First-class cricket career

Ongley made his first-class debut in 1938–39 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 ...

in the

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 ...

, scoring a century in his first match against

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. Batting first, at one stage Wellington were 116 for 5, but Ongley made 110, reaching his century in 149 minutes, and Wellington went on to win by an innings. He was selected to play 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 ...

later that season against Sir Julien Cahn's XI and made 35 as an opening batsman in a match ruined by rain. He married Joan Archer in 1943. They had four sons and a daughter. Ongley continued to play for Wellington, with moderate success, through the late 1940s, and captained the team from 1947–48 to 1949–50. He also continued to captain Manawatu in the Hawke Cup, including a period as title holders in the mid-1940s. When the

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 ...

team made its first appearance in the 1950–51 Plunket Shield, he was chosen to be captain. Central Districts finished second in 1950–51 and third in 1951–52, after which Ongley retired from first-class cricket. He continued to captain Manawatu until 1956–57, and played his last Hawke Cup match in 1957–58.

Later life

Ongley became the first-ever chairman of Central Districts Cricket Association, a position he held from 1954 to 1969. He managed the New Zealand cricket team in Australia in 1967–68. Ongley was a judge of the New Zealand Supreme Court. He was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ongley, Joe 1918 births 2000 deaths New Zealand cricketers Wellington cricketers People educated at St Patrick's College, Silverstream Victoria University of Wellington alumni Central Districts cricketers 20th-century New Zealand judges High Court of New Zealand judges Sportspeople from Feilding New Zealand cricket administrators New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand Services cricketers