The Rev. William Tasman Drake (2 December 1884 – 15 April 1946) was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

clergyman and

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in New Zealand.

Life and clerical career

Tasman Drake was born in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, but his family moved to New Zealand, and he was educated at schools in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. He studied for the Anglican clergy at Selwyn College in Dunedin. He married Mary Mitchell (1887–1968) in Dunedin in December 1914. They had two sons and a daughter. One of his brothers was Ernest Drake, a popular

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

and conductor in New Zealand. Drake served the Anglican Church as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restor ...

Central Otago Central Otago is located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River and tributa ...

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Maniototo The Maniototo Plain, usually simply known as The Maniototo, is an elevated inland region in Otago, New Zealand. The region roughly surrounds the upper reaches of the Taieri River and the Manuherikia River. It is bounded by the Kakanui Range to t ...

in Naseby from 1915, curate at Gisborne from 1918, vicar of Puketapu in Hawke's Bay from 1921, and vicar of Port Ahuriri in

Napier Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

from 1922 to 1927. After some time off for his health, he was organising secretary of the

Diocese of Waiapu The Diocese of Waiapu is one of the thirteen dioceses and hui amorangi of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the area around the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, including Tauranga, Ta ...

from 1929 to 1931, vicar of Waipawa in Hawke's Bay from 1931 to 1938, and vicar of St Matthew's Church,

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, from 1938 until his death in 1946.

Cricket career

Drake's career in rural parishes in his younger days made it difficult for him to establish himself as a cricketer. He was prominent in local cricket as an all-rounder. Playing in two one-day matches for Naseby against Ranfurly in November and December 1914, he opened both the batting and the bowling, taking 6 for 33 in the first match, and making the match top score with 34 ("a good and merry innings") and taking 5 for 22 in the second. During his residence in Gisborne, Drake played several representative matches for

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay (Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the north ...

. His batting helped them defend the Hawke Cup successfully twice in 1920 and 1921 when, opening the batting, he made the highest score on either side in each match: 45 not out against Manawatu and 63 against

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

. He was selected to represent the New Zealand Minor Associations in a

first-class match 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 one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

against the touring Australians in March 1921. He and his teammates were overwhelmed by the Australians by an innings inside two days of the scheduled three-day match, but he did make 15 opening the first innings, which was the equal second-highest score for the innings; he also took a wicket. At the time of his first-class match, Drake was described as "a sound bat with an extremely ugly but effective style hoscores well all round the wicket", a "very useful change bowler and a brilliant field in any position".

References

External links

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Tasman Drake
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Tasman 1884 births 1946 deaths New Zealand cricketers Cricketers from Hobart New Zealand Anglican priests Australian emigrants to New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand Anglican priests