Leonard Arthur Butterfield (29 August 1913 – 5 July 1999) was a

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 ...

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 in one

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

in 1946. He later served as New Zealand's chief

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

stipendiary steward.

Cricket career

Butterfield made his first-class debut for

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 1934–35, and played three more matches in 1935-36 batting at various positions in the order from opening to number eight, without much success. He reappeared in 1943-44 as an all-rounder who batted in the middle order and opened the bowling, and took 5 for 24 to help Canterbury beat Auckland, followed by 5 for 47 in a victory over Wellington in the next match. He was selected to play for a New Zealand XI in a first-class match against a New Zealand Services XI shortly afterwards, and hit 40 batting at number nine, his highest score to date. He hit the highest score of his career, 82, against Otago in 1944–45, and was selected for

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

against

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

at Auckland in the last match of the season. In a low-scoring match he scored 16 and 58 batting at number seven, and opening the bowling he took 3 for 47 in the first innings then, with his team trailing by 67, he took the first five wickets to fall in North Island's second innings, taking 5 for 9 (figures of 12–5–9–5) before having to leave the ground injured. North Island recovered somewhat after his departure, leaving South Island to get 262 for victory, but despite Butterfield's 58 and Ian Cromb's 62, they fell 34 runs short. In 1945-46 he made 76 against Auckland and 69 against Otago, when he also had figures of 28.5–21–17–4 in the first innings. He was unsuccessful with bat or ball when Canterbury were defeated by the Australians in March, but he was selected for the Test that followed later that month in Wellington. He bowled economically without taking a wicket, and, batting at number seven, after Gordon Rowe at six (who also made a

pair Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to: Government and politics * Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin * ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords * ''Pair'', the Fren ...

in his only Test), faced 10 balls in the match without scoring, falling

Leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a Batting (cricket), batter can be dismissal (cricket), dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an Appeal (cricket), appeal by the Fielding (cricket), fielding side, the umpire (cricket), ...

to Bill O'Reilly each time. It was his last first-class match.

After cricket

Butterfield's father had been a horse trainer at

Addington Raceway Addington Raceway or The Met is the home of the Metropolitan Trotting Club in Addington, Christchurch in New Zealand. The venue consists of a trotting track, a greyhound track, conference centre and restaurants. It is also home to many feature ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. After working as a plumber for some years, Butterfield began work with the Trotting Conference in 1946. From 1957 he served for 21 years as New Zealand harness racing's Chief Stipendiary Steward, retiring in 1978. While he was Chief Stipendiary Steward he made a study of drugs and how they affect horses.

References

External links

Len Butterfield at Cricinfo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterfield, Len 1913 births 1999 deaths New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers Canterbury cricketers Cricketers from Christchurch South Island cricketers People in harness racing

Cricket career

After cricket

See also

References

External links