Jack Cowie
Encyclopedia
John Cowie OBE was a New Zealand
cricket
er who played in nine Tests
from 1937 to 1949. His Test opportunities were restricted by New Zealand's limited programme, and his cricket career was interrupted by World War II
from 1939 to 1945. Following the 1937 tour of England, Wisden
commented: "Had he been an Australian, he might have been termed a wonder of the age."
. But his success in domestic cricket was limited until the 1936-37 season, when he took 21 wickets in four first-class matches, and in the match against Wellington at Auckland
took five wickets in an innings for the first time, finishing with five for 81.
This form won him a place in the 1937 New Zealand team
to tour England under the captaincy of Curly Page
.
Cowie hit form in England very quickly, taking five wickets in the first tour match, against Surrey
. Against Oxford University
, his first innings figures of six for 50 were the best so far in his career, and included four wickets for five runs in 21 balls. By the time of the first Test
at the end of June, Cowie had 32 first-class
wickets.
His Test debut, at Lord's, saw him take the wickets of England
debutant openers, Leonard Hutton and Jim Parks, Sr., in both innings. Hutton made only one run in the two innings. Cowie also took the wickets of Charles Barnett
and Bill Voce
in the first innings to finish with four for 118 in the innings; his second innings figures, when England lost only four wickets before declaring, were two for 49. The match was drawn.
Immediately after the Lord's Test, Cowie took eight wickets, including a second innings five for 60, in the match against Somerset
at Taunton. But he was less successful in other matches in mid-season and was given what Wisden termed "a well-earned rest" during the side's visit to Scotland in July.
The second Test of the series, at Manchester, was played in cold weather with frequent showers, and England won the match by, according to Wisden, "a comfortable margin". But the match was a triumph for Cowie, who took four England wickets for 73 in the first innings and six for 67 in the second to finish with match figures of 10 for 140. This was the first time a New Zealand bowler had achieved 10 wickets in a Test match, and the feat would not be equalled for 38 years. Wisden wrote: "He always bowled at the stumps and considering he was sometimes handicapped by the slow pitch and wet ball, his was a masterly performance."
Cowie picked up an injury in the next match against Surrey, and then missed a week's cricket.". He returned to the team for the match with Essex
and took three for 56 and five for 66, though he was overshadowed by Jack Dunning
, who took 10 wickets in the game. In the two-day non-first-class match against Sir Julien Cahn's XI which followed, Cowie himself took 10 wickets, with five in each innings.
The third Test match at The Oval
was badly affected by rain and was Cowie's least successful of the summer. Nevertheless he took three of the seven England wickets to fall in the first innings, finishing the series with 19 wickets at an average of 20.78 runs per wicket. The second most successful New Zealand bowler was Giff Vivian
, and he took only eight wickets, and this was also the tally for the highest England wicket-takers in the series.
Cowie maintained his good form through the remaining first-class matches of the tour. He took eight wickets in the match, including five for 36 in the second innings, against Combined Services
; then five in the game with Hampshire
and seven in both the Kent
and Sussex
matches. There were seven further wickets in the Folkestone
festival match against "An England XI", the first of which was Cowie's 100th wicket of the season. And in the final game in England, against H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI at Scarborough, he made 36 out of a ninth wicket stand of 74 with Tom Lowry
, the highest score of his career so far.
There was a (very) short codicil to the New Zealanders tour of England: a first-class match against Ireland in Dublin. The match lasted only a single day, the first one-day finish in a first-class game for 12 years. Cowie took no wickets in the first Irish innings, when the home side was all out for 79; the New Zealanders replied with just 64. Ireland's second innings was disastrous: only three batsmen made any runs at all and of the total of 30, 10 were extras. Cowie bowled eight overs, conceded only three singles in them, and finished with figures of six wickets for three runs, which proved the best of his whole first-class career. He was, said Wisden, "well-nigh unplayable".
When regular first-class cricket resumed in New Zealand in 1945-46, the Australians sent a fairly strong team (though lacking Don Bradman) to play five first-class matches, and the match against New Zealand was recognised as a Test match. It was a low-scoring game, won easily by Australia inside two days. The New Zealanders made only 42 in their first innings and 54 in the second; in between, Australia made 199 for eight wickets before declaring, and Cowie took six of the eight wickets that fell at a personal cost of 40 runs. These were the best Test bowling figures of his career.
The following season, 1946-47, there was a further single Test match in New Zealand: the visitors on this occasion were the England team
which had toured Australia, losing The Ashes
series. In a rain-shortened match, New Zealand held their own and Cowie was prominent with both ball and, unusually, bat. In New Zealand's only innings, he made 45, his highest Test score, adding 64 for the ninth wicket with Tom Burtt
. Then, starting with Cyril Washbrook
in the first over, he took six of the seven England wickets to fall at a cost of 83 runs.
Limited domestic matches in the 1947-48 and 1948-49 seasons produced further wickets for Cowie though at a higher cost than usual. But he was an automatic selection for his second tour of England, with the 1949 team
led by Walter Hadlee
.
For the first time in his cricket career, Cowie was affected by injuries during the tour. Wisden noted "minor strains" and he missed three weeks of the tour between the third and fourth Tests. The injuries meant that he played in only 18 of the 32 first-class matches of the tour, and he finished with 59 wickets at an average of 27.13 runs apiece. As ever, his batting was mostly negligible, though he made 47 in the first-class match against Scotland, a match in which he also took six Scottish wickets in the second innings at a cost of 66 runs, all six batsmen being bowled. His best bowling on the tour was in an early match against Leicestershire
when he took six wickets for 54 runs.
Cowie played in all four Tests of the summer, all four matches being drawn. In the first game, he bowled 36 overs on the first day of the match and he was, said Wisden, "the only bowler who presented England with any serious problem". He took five wickets in the England first innings for 127 runs, but pulled a muscle in his leg so that he needed a runner
while batting and was unable to bowl in England's second innings.
Fit again for the second Test, though he played in neither of the first-class matches in between, Cowie bowled a long spell in which he "maintained a perfect length at a fast pace and several times.. made the ball lift nastily". He tired in the heat, however, and finished with only two wickets for 64 runs. In the third match, he was part of an accurate New Zealand attack that had England struggling for runs, and took three for 98. In the fourth and final Test, again played in hot conditions, he shared the England wickets with Fen Cresswell
, though his four wickets cost 123 runs and he was most effective late in the innings.
Cowie finished the Test series at the head of the New Zealand bowlers by average, his 14 Test wickets costing 32.21 runs each. The slow left-arm bowler Tom Burtt took 17 wickets, but they cost more than 33 runs each.
Towards the end of the tour, there was one more five-wicket innings for Cowie in the match against Middlesex
. That proved to be his last significant bowling achievement in first-class cricket. He moved in his job in insurance to Wellington on his return from England and he appeared in the 1949-50 New Zealand domestic season in just one match for Auckland against a non-Test-playing Australian side, and then retired.
; he officiated in a total of three Test matches. In addition, Cowie played professional soccer in the winter, acting as goalkeeper for Auckland for 14 seasons. He later served on the New Zealand Football governing body. He was awarded the OBE
in 1972.
, an Australian and New Zealand insurance group, for 47 years.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played in nine Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
from 1937 to 1949. His Test opportunities were restricted by New Zealand's limited programme, and his cricket career was interrupted by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
from 1939 to 1945. Following the 1937 tour of England, Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
commented: "Had he been an Australian, he might have been termed a wonder of the age."
Early cricket career
A lower-order right-handed batsman and a fast-medium right-handed bowler, Cowie played first-class cricket for Auckland from the 1932-33 season, appearing regularly in Plunket Shield matches from 1934-35. According to his obituary in Wisden in 1995, he started as a batsman but converted himself into a bowler because the Auckland side had too many batsmen for him to be guaranteed a place. As a bowler, he relied on accuracy and the ability to move the ball after it pitched, and Wisden likened him to a latter-day New Zealand bowler, Richard HadleeRichard Hadlee
Sir Richard John Hadlee, MBE is a former New Zealand cricketer who played provincial cricket for Canterbury, Nottinghamshire and Tasmania. He is the son of Walter Hadlee, and the brother of Dayle and Barry Hadlee. His former wife Karen also played international cricket for New Zealand.Hadlee was...
. But his success in domestic cricket was limited until the 1936-37 season, when he took 21 wickets in four first-class matches, and in the match against Wellington at Auckland
Eden Park
Eden Park is the biggest stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer . The ground also occasionally hostts rugby league matches. To accommodate all three sports, the cricket pitch is removable...
took five wickets in an innings for the first time, finishing with five for 81.
This form won him a place in the 1937 New Zealand team
New Zealand cricket team in England in 1937
The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1937 season. The team was the third from New Zealand to tour England, following those of 1927 and 1931 and the second to play Test matches. Three Tests were arranged: England won the second match at Manchester, and the games at Lord's and The Oval...
to tour England under the captaincy of Curly Page
Curly Page
Milford Laurenson "Curly" Page was a cricketer who played for New Zealand and Canterbury. He was New Zealand's second Test captain, and captained 7 of the Tests in which he played...
.
The 1937 England tour
Cowie was, in the words of Wisden's report, "the outstanding player of the team" on the 1937 tour. Having taken previously only 45 first-class wickets, he took 114 in England and Ireland, at an average of 19.95, heading the touring team's bowling figures for both average and aggregate. Wisden said that not only was he "a first-rate fast-medium bowler, but a bowler equal to anyone of his type in present-day cricket." It went on: "Some of Cowie's colleagues who had played with or against him in New Zealand were surprised at the pace off the pitch which he obtained on English wickets. A player with an enormous capacity for work, who seemed impervious to fatigue and was accurate in length and direction, he often bowled a vicious off-break and, as he could also make the ball 'lift' and swing away, he was a bowler to be feared."Cowie hit form in England very quickly, taking five wickets in the first tour match, against Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
. Against Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
, his first innings figures of six for 50 were the best so far in his career, and included four wickets for five runs in 21 balls. By the time of the first Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
at the end of June, Cowie had 32 first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
wickets.
His Test debut, at Lord's, saw him take the wickets of England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
debutant openers, Leonard Hutton and Jim Parks, Sr., in both innings. Hutton made only one run in the two innings. Cowie also took the wickets of Charles Barnett
Charlie Barnett (cricketer)
Charles John Barnett was an English cricketer, who played in 20 Tests from 1933 to 1948...
and Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
in the first innings to finish with four for 118 in the innings; his second innings figures, when England lost only four wickets before declaring, were two for 49. The match was drawn.
Immediately after the Lord's Test, Cowie took eight wickets, including a second innings five for 60, in the match against Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
at Taunton. But he was less successful in other matches in mid-season and was given what Wisden termed "a well-earned rest" during the side's visit to Scotland in July.
The second Test of the series, at Manchester, was played in cold weather with frequent showers, and England won the match by, according to Wisden, "a comfortable margin". But the match was a triumph for Cowie, who took four England wickets for 73 in the first innings and six for 67 in the second to finish with match figures of 10 for 140. This was the first time a New Zealand bowler had achieved 10 wickets in a Test match, and the feat would not be equalled for 38 years. Wisden wrote: "He always bowled at the stumps and considering he was sometimes handicapped by the slow pitch and wet ball, his was a masterly performance."
Cowie picked up an injury in the next match against Surrey, and then missed a week's cricket.". He returned to the team for the match with Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
and took three for 56 and five for 66, though he was overshadowed by Jack Dunning
Jack Dunning
John Angus Dunning was a New Zealand cricketer who played in 4 Tests from 1933 to 1937....
, who took 10 wickets in the game. In the two-day non-first-class match against Sir Julien Cahn's XI which followed, Cowie himself took 10 wickets, with five in each innings.
The third Test match at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
was badly affected by rain and was Cowie's least successful of the summer. Nevertheless he took three of the seven England wickets to fall in the first innings, finishing the series with 19 wickets at an average of 20.78 runs per wicket. The second most successful New Zealand bowler was Giff Vivian
Giff Vivian
Henry Gifford Vivian was a New Zealand cricketer who played in seven Tests from 1931 to 1937. His son Graham, also played for the Black Caps....
, and he took only eight wickets, and this was also the tally for the highest England wicket-takers in the series.
Cowie maintained his good form through the remaining first-class matches of the tour. He took eight wickets in the match, including five for 36 in the second innings, against Combined Services
Combined Services cricket team
The Combined Services cricket team represents the British armed forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lord's in 1920, while their last was against Oxford...
; then five in the game with Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
and seven in both the Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
and Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
matches. There were seven further wickets in the Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
festival match against "An England XI", the first of which was Cowie's 100th wicket of the season. And in the final game in England, against H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI at Scarborough, he made 36 out of a ninth wicket stand of 74 with Tom Lowry
Tom Lowry
Thomas Coleman Lowry was a New Zealand cricketer. He played in the first seven Test matches that New Zealand ever played, captaining the team in all of them....
, the highest score of his career so far.
There was a (very) short codicil to the New Zealanders tour of England: a first-class match against Ireland in Dublin. The match lasted only a single day, the first one-day finish in a first-class game for 12 years. Cowie took no wickets in the first Irish innings, when the home side was all out for 79; the New Zealanders replied with just 64. Ireland's second innings was disastrous: only three batsmen made any runs at all and of the total of 30, 10 were extras. Cowie bowled eight overs, conceded only three singles in them, and finished with figures of six wickets for three runs, which proved the best of his whole first-class career. He was, said Wisden, "well-nigh unplayable".
Back in New Zealand
The New Zealand team played two matches in Australia on the way home after the 1937 tour of England, but thereafter Cowie's cricket was confined to New Zealand for the next 12 years through a combination of the Second World War and an extremely limited Test schedule. He continued to be a regular wicket-taker in the three domestic seasons before first-class cricket was suspended in New Zealand in 1940, but New Zealand played no Test matches in this period.When regular first-class cricket resumed in New Zealand in 1945-46, the Australians sent a fairly strong team (though lacking Don Bradman) to play five first-class matches, and the match against New Zealand was recognised as a Test match. It was a low-scoring game, won easily by Australia inside two days. The New Zealanders made only 42 in their first innings and 54 in the second; in between, Australia made 199 for eight wickets before declaring, and Cowie took six of the eight wickets that fell at a personal cost of 40 runs. These were the best Test bowling figures of his career.
The following season, 1946-47, there was a further single Test match in New Zealand: the visitors on this occasion were the England team
English cricket team in Australia in 1946-47
The English cricket team in Australia in 1946–47 was captained by Wally Hammond, with Norman Yardley as his vice-captain and Bill Edrich as the senior professional. It played as England in the 1946-47 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC in their other matches on the tour...
which had toured Australia, losing The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
series. In a rain-shortened match, New Zealand held their own and Cowie was prominent with both ball and, unusually, bat. In New Zealand's only innings, he made 45, his highest Test score, adding 64 for the ninth wicket with Tom Burtt
Tom Burtt
Thomas Browning Burtt was a New Zealand cricketer who played in ten Tests from 1947 to 1953. His 128 wickets taken on tour remains a record for New Zealand. In first class cricket, he played 84 games for Canterburybetween 1943 and 1955, taking 40 wickets at 22.19...
. Then, starting with Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592...
in the first over, he took six of the seven England wickets to fall at a cost of 83 runs.
Limited domestic matches in the 1947-48 and 1948-49 seasons produced further wickets for Cowie though at a higher cost than usual. But he was an automatic selection for his second tour of England, with the 1949 team
New Zealand cricket team in England in 1949
The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1949 season. The team was the fourth official touring side from New Zealand, following those in 1927, 1931 and 1937, and was by some distance the most successful to this date...
led by Walter Hadlee
Walter Hadlee
Walter Arnold Hadlee, CBE was a New Zealand cricketer and Test match captain. He played domestic first-class cricket for Canterbury and Otago. Three of his five sons, Sir Richard, Dayle and Barry played cricket for New Zealand...
.
The 1949 England tour
As in 1937, Cowie was one of the key players on the 1949 tour of England, though age – he was 37 – and a warm and dry summer did not help his figures. Wisden said that they did him "far less than justice". It went on: "For a bowler of his pace his consistency was remarkable... Another 25 or 30 wickets for the same number of runs would have given him an analysis more in keeping with his value."For the first time in his cricket career, Cowie was affected by injuries during the tour. Wisden noted "minor strains" and he missed three weeks of the tour between the third and fourth Tests. The injuries meant that he played in only 18 of the 32 first-class matches of the tour, and he finished with 59 wickets at an average of 27.13 runs apiece. As ever, his batting was mostly negligible, though he made 47 in the first-class match against Scotland, a match in which he also took six Scottish wickets in the second innings at a cost of 66 runs, all six batsmen being bowled. His best bowling on the tour was in an early match against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
when he took six wickets for 54 runs.
Cowie played in all four Tests of the summer, all four matches being drawn. In the first game, he bowled 36 overs on the first day of the match and he was, said Wisden, "the only bowler who presented England with any serious problem". He took five wickets in the England first innings for 127 runs, but pulled a muscle in his leg so that he needed a runner
Runner (cricket)
In cricket, a runner is a team member who runs between the wickets for an injured batsman.When a runner is used, the batsman stands in position and plays shots as normal, but does not attempt to run between the wickets: the runner runs for him...
while batting and was unable to bowl in England's second innings.
Fit again for the second Test, though he played in neither of the first-class matches in between, Cowie bowled a long spell in which he "maintained a perfect length at a fast pace and several times.. made the ball lift nastily". He tired in the heat, however, and finished with only two wickets for 64 runs. In the third match, he was part of an accurate New Zealand attack that had England struggling for runs, and took three for 98. In the fourth and final Test, again played in hot conditions, he shared the England wickets with Fen Cresswell
Fen Cresswell
George Fenwick Cresswell played three Tests for New Zealand. Born in Wanganui he was the older brother of Arthur Cresswell. He was found dead in Blenheim in 1966....
, though his four wickets cost 123 runs and he was most effective late in the innings.
Cowie finished the Test series at the head of the New Zealand bowlers by average, his 14 Test wickets costing 32.21 runs each. The slow left-arm bowler Tom Burtt took 17 wickets, but they cost more than 33 runs each.
Towards the end of the tour, there was one more five-wicket innings for Cowie in the match against Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
. That proved to be his last significant bowling achievement in first-class cricket. He moved in his job in insurance to Wellington on his return from England and he appeared in the 1949-50 New Zealand domestic season in just one match for Auckland against a non-Test-playing Australian side, and then retired.
After retirement
In 1956, Cowie made his debut as a Test umpireUmpire (cricket)
In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...
; he officiated in a total of three Test matches. In addition, Cowie played professional soccer in the winter, acting as goalkeeper for Auckland for 14 seasons. He later served on the New Zealand Football governing body. He was awarded the OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1972.
Personal life
Cowie married Nyrie Wallen in 1936 and had two daughters. He worked for the T & G Mutual Life Assurance SocietyT & G Mutual Life Assurance Society
The T & G Mutual Life Assurance Society was an insurance company that operated in Australia and New Zealand. The 'T & G' stood for 'Temperance & General'. The company was founded in 1876, emerging from the Assurance branch of the Independent Order of Rechabites...
, an Australian and New Zealand insurance group, for 47 years.