Jack Powell: A Great Cricketer

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29067, 2 December 1959, Page 20

Jack Powell: A Great Cricketer

TACK Powell, whose death occurred on Monday, was hardly known to the cricketing youngsters of today, and that was a pity. From 1921 to 1939, when he played for the Riccarton seniors, one of the sights of the season was Powell hitting sixes at Hagley Oval. Today’s young cricketers would be inspired by such as Powell—if they could believe their eyes. Tall and broad, strong, brown and cheerful, Jack Powell was among the great batsmen and characters of his time. A sweating bowler might see Powell defend his wicket from two or three successive balls. A dawning hope that Powell might be subdued ended just before the umpire signalled the six. Powell was nothing if not positive in his approach to the game. One of his contemporaries, Owen Gorrie, recalls playing out two maiden overs from Reg Read, one of the finest length bowlers New Zealand cricket has known. At the end of the second over Powell came down the pitch and asked Gorrie, quite politely, if he felt ill. Aggression There you have Jack PowelL A highly skilled player, but one determined to get on top. Craven thoughts about the state of the pitch or the game, or of how good the bowler was, just did not occur to him. If his bat looked like a toothpick in his ample hands, it very often became the business end of a catapault. He came from a cricketing

family of four. His brother, Bob, a most accomplished left-hand batsman, played for Canterbury one season, and would have played many more had he been available. Another brother, Frank, a pace bowler, had many successes in senior cricket And his sister, Maisie, has been as closely identified with the Riccarton club, for some 30 years, as her brothers. She used to practise with them on the pitch at their home, she used to watch season after season, and over all that time, the Riccarton afternoon teas were not the same when she was not there. It is difficult to imagine any woman better versed in cricket than Miss Powell, or any who has a deeper affection for it. Record

It was little wonder that she grew up to love cricket, for all her brothers were remarkable in their various cricketing ways. Jack Powell and Neil Dorreen still hold the New Zealand seventh-wicket record of 265, set for Canterbury in a match against Otago in 1929-30. The runs far outnu nbered the minutes they took to make them; there were some tremendous hits.

Owen Gorrie was a central figure in another incident which typifies Powell’s approach to the game. On a Riccarton opening day, Gorrie, also a mighty hitter, and Powell had a friendly argument about which of them would be the quicker to hit a six. Gorrie got one second ball. When Powell came in to bat, he laughed deeply, because Gorrie was the bowler.

and Gorrie’s bowling was not highly regarded at all. But when he was bowled first ball, Powell kept on laughing. Centuries Although he had his failures in championship matches, Powell made 5419 runs for Riccarton seniors, at an average of almost 30, and he scored 10 centuries—each of them memorable, for their violence and speed. He was a useful bowler of some pace, always likely to produce an almost unplayable ball, and he was a very fine fieldsman, once holding

five catches in a senior match. He took 146 wickets, quite cheaply. He had among his team-mates such men as Alby Roberts, Jack Jacobs, Percy Allen, Charlie Rix, C. E. Evans, G. W. Haines, G. S. Gibbs, and A. Cox, any of whom would grace a Canterbury team today. In this fine company, he stood out, for he was a man among men, beloved by his comrades for his forthright ways and his aggressive cricket, a favourite of the crowds because he always tried, because he always put so much into a game to which he was devoted, and to which he did so much credit.