Richard Collinge

Richard Owen Collinge (born 2 April 1946) is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played 35 Tests and 15 ODIs. He was New Zealand Cricket Almanack Player of the Year in 1971.

Richard Collinge

Personal information
Full name	Richard Owen Collinge
Born	2 April 1946 Wellington, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Left-arm medium-fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	New Zealand (1965–1978)
Test debut (cap 102)	22 January 1965 v Pakistan
Last Test	24 August 1978 v England
ODI debut (cap 2)	11 February 1973 v Pakistan
Last ODI	17 July 1978 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1963/64–1969/70	Central Districts
1967/68–1974/75	Wellington
1975/76–1977/78	Northern Districts
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 35 15 163 37 Runs scored 533 34 1,848 116 Batting average 14.40 5.66 14.43 9.66 100s/50s 0/2 0/0 0/4 0/0 Top score 68* 9 68* 38* Balls bowled 7,689 859 31,388 2,038 Wickets 116 18 524 52 Bowling average 29.25 26.61 24.41 20.15 5 wickets in innings 3 1 22 2 10 wickets in match 0 0 4 0 Best bowling 6/63 5/23 8/64 5/23 Catches/stumpings 10/– 1/– 57/– 6/–
Source: Cricinfo, 17 October 2016

Domestic career

He played domestic cricket for three different sides. He made his first class debut for Central Districts in 1963/64 and played for them until 1969/70 before moving to Wellington from 1967/68 to 1974/75 and finally Northern Districts till 1977/78. In 163 first class matches he took 524 wickets, with a best of 8-64, at an average of 24.41.

International career

A tall, strongly-built man, Collinge bowled left arm fast medium, ending his long run with both arms stretching upwards before delivering the ball.[1] He pitched the ball up and relied on late movement. He was a good foil for the often wild express pace of the young Richard Hadlee and was instrumental in helping Hadlee bring New Zealand's first Test victory over England in 1977-8, with figures of 3-42 and 3-45.[2] The fast inswinger with which he bowled Geoff Boycott at Wellington began England's collapse to 64 all out and brought the crowd to fever pitch.

He made his Test debut in 1965 and played his last match at Lord's in 1978.[3] [4] His best Test and One Day International bowling figures were both against India in 1975–76, with 6 for 63 and 5 for 23 respectively. At the time of his retirement, he was New Zealand's greatest wicket-taker, with 116 wickets at 29.25 each, despite missing many matches during his 13-year test career.

He could also be a useful batsman. At Auckland in 1972–73, Collinge scored 68 not out for New Zealand against Pakistan; this was the highest score ever made by a number 11 in a Test match at the time. That innings also formed part of the record last-wicket stand in Tests: 151 put on with Brian Hastings in 155 minutes.[5]

Notes

1. Kieza, Grantlee. FAST and FURIOUS: A celebration of Cricket's pace bowlers, 1st ed, Lester-Townsend Publishing Pty Ltd. 1990. ISBN 0-949853-41-0 (Australia)
2. Wisden 1979, p. 917.
3. Lynch, Stephen (19 January 2004). "The worst bowling average, and mystery injuries". Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
4. "New Zealand v Pakistan in 1972/73". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
5. Wisden 1974, p. 942.

External links

• Richard Collinge at ESPNcricinfo