Verdun John Scott (31 July 1916 – 2 August 1980) was a sportsman who represented New Zealand in both Test

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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

. As of 2022 he is the only player to have done so.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League''

Rugby league career

Scott began playing rugby league in the mid 1930s, favouring league over soccer where he had previously represented "Auckland B". In league Scott quickly made the

Auckland rugby league team The Auckland rugby league team is the team which traditionally represents all of the clubs which play in the Auckland Rugby League competition. As well as a senior men's team there are also Auckland representative teams throughout the various a ...

and in 1939 was selected for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

touring squad to England. He played in one Test match before the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

cut short the tour. He was one of five players who did not play in the two club matches the Kiwis played before the tour was cancelled. On one occasion he played on Carlaw Park for North Shore and after the game was completed raced to Eden Park where he scored 22 runs in the last match of the cricket season.

Second World War

During

, Scott served in Egypt and Italy. After the war, Scott was part of the

North Shore Albions The North Shore Albions were a rugby league club based on the North Shore of Auckland in Devonport before moving to Bayswater at a later time. They formed in 1909 and folded in the early 2000s due to a lack of playing numbers. At the start of ...

side that won the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

's Roope Rooster and Stormont Shield in 1945.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909–2009'', 2009. , p. 130.

Cricket career

A burly and upright right-handed opening batsman with little or no backlift, Scott started his cricketing career by scoring a century on first-class debut for

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

versus

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 1937–38. He made his

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) ...

debut against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the match arranged after the Second World War in March 1946 and was top scorer in the first innings with 14 out of a total of just 42.

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 ...

totalled just 96 runs in the two completed innings. He was one of the more reliable batsmen on the New Zealand tour of England in 1949, and played in all four Tests. Though his top score in these games was only 60, he and left-handed opening partner

Bert Sutcliffe Bert Sutcliffe (17 November 1923 – 20 April 2001) was a New Zealand Test cricketer. Sutcliffe was a successful left-hand batsman. His batting achievements on tour in England in 1949, which included four fifties and a century in the Tests, e ...

gave the touring team a solid start in three matches, with partnerships of 122, 89 and 121. He later played in home Tests against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, reserving his best Test performance for his last game, when he made 84 out of New Zealand total of 160 in reply to the West Indies 546 for six wickets, a four-hour innings that took up enough time for bad light and rain to come to his side's rescue. In all, he played ten Tests for New Zealand. Scott played for Auckland from 1937–38 to 1952–53. He was a prolific scorer in

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 ...

cricket, and in all first-class cricket averaged only just under 50 runs per innings. His highest score was 204 against Otago in 1947–48. Scott died at

Devonport, New Zealand Devonport ( ) is a harbourside suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, New Zealand, North Shore, at the southern end of the Devonport Peninsula that runs southeast from near Lake Pupuke in Takapuna, forming the north ...

, on 2 August 1980.Verdun Scott
CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 August 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Verdun 1916 births 1980 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Auckland cricketers Auckland rugby league team players New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Test cricketers North Island cricketers North Shore Albions players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league utility players

Rugby league career

Second World War

Cricket career

See also

References

External links