Charles Stewart Dempster (15 November 1903 – 14 February 1974) was a New Zealand

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

er and coach. As well as representing

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, he also played for

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, Leicestershire and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

Early life

Born to a Scottish parents Charles Dempster and Eliza Jemima Weavers in 1903 Dempster lived the first three decades of his life in Wellington, nearby to the local cricket ground the

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve (commonly known as "The Basin") is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It has been used for Test matches, and is the main home ground for the Wellington Firebirds first-class team. The Basin Reserve is the only cr ...

. Developing an early interest in the game Dempster played for the Wellington Boys' Institute team in his youth and was encouraged by his father to score hundreds, being rewarded with 5 shillings from him for each one he scored. In his most prolific season he scored nine centuries in ten innings with the remaining innings scoring 99 and gaining the attention of the local provincial selectors.

Career in New Zealand

Dempster made his first first-class appearance for Wellington against Canterbury at the Basin Reserve over new year 1921/1922 scoring 10 and 1. Dempster first toured with New Zealand in 1927, when no Test matches were played, and headed the touring team's first-class batting averages. He was a surprise choice for the tour, being selected more for his performances in second-class cricket. In the 1929–30 MCC tour of New Zealand Dempster and

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put on a New Zealand record first-innings stand of 276 for the first wicket, which remained the highest for New Zealand until 197

In the New Zealand cricket team in England in 1931, 1931 New Zealand tour of England he averaged 59.26 and scored 120 in the Test at Lord's. In 1932 he was listed as one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

. He made his final Test appearance against the 1932/33 England team scoring 83 not out.

Move to England

Dempster moved to England, appearing in one first-class match for Lindsay Parkinson's XI in 1933 and once for Scotland in 1934. He settled in England from 1935, being contracted by the Leicestershire millionaire Sir

Julien Cahn Sir Julien Cahn, 1st Baronet (21 October 1882 – 26 September 1944) was a British businessman, philanthropist and cricket enthusiast. Early life and family Cahn was born in Cardiff in 1882 to parents of German Jewish descent. His father, Alber ...

to play for his private team. Dempster qualified for Leicestershire, captaining the team from 1936 to 1938, although playing irregularly in 1938 and 1939. In 1938–39, he toured New Zealand with Cahn's team. He was able to play county cricket as an amateur, and was therefore acceptable as a county captain, by being employed by Cahn, ostensibly as the manager of one of his furniture stores in Leicester. While there, he married Margaret Jowers from Leicester in 1938.Nigel Smith (1994) ''Kiwis Declare: Players Tell the Story of New Zealand Cricket'', Random House, Auckland, pp. 58–59. .

Post-war life

Dempster appeared for the County scratch sides during the war but left the staff when the war ended. He played three times for

in 1946 before returning to New Zealand to become a coach. He was selected to play for New Zealand in a one-off Test in Christchurch against England in March 1947, but he withdrew due to an eye injury four days before the match. The match ended in a draw. Dempster made his final appearance for Wellington against Auckland at Eden Park in January 1948 scoring 7 and 41. Dempster has the distinction of having the second-highest Test batting average in history for completed careers of 10 or more innings, behind Sir

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test cricket, Test batting average (c ...

.Batting averages
After his retirement from playing, he was a prominent coach in Wellington for many years. His pupils included the Test players

Bruce Edgar Bruce Adrian Edgar (born 23 November 1956) is a former cricketer who represented New Zealand in both Test and One Day International (ODI) format. A chartered accountant by profession, Edgar played as a left-handed opening batsman and an occasi ...

and

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

. Wesley Harte wrote ''C.S. Dempster: His Record-By-Innings'' in 1990. A biography titled ''Second Only to Bradman: The Life of Stewie Dempster'' was written by

Bill Francis William or Bill Francis may refer to: * William Francis (chemist) (1817–1904), British chemist and publisher * William B. Francis (1860–1954), U.S. Representative from Ohio * William D. Francis (1889–1959), Australian botanist * William T. F ...

and published in 2019.

Statistics

*The column title Match refers to the Match Number of his Test career.

References

External links

* * *
Dempster, Charles Stewart at DNZB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempster, Charles 1903 births 1974 deaths Leicestershire cricketers Leicestershire cricket captains New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Scotland cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Wellington cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Gentlemen cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Sir L. Parkinson's XI cricketers