Tom Reese

Thomas Wilson Reese (29 September 1867 – 13 April 1949) was a New Zealand first-class cricketer who played for Canterbury from 1888 to 1918, and later wrote a two-volume history of New Zealand cricket.

Tom Reese
Personal information
Full nameThomas Wilson Reese
Born(1867-09-29)29 September 1867
Christchurch, New Zealand
Died13 April 1949(1949-04-13) (aged 81)
Christchurch
RelationsDan Reese (brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1887-88 to 1917-18Canterbury
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 24
Runs scored 374
Batting average 10.10
100s/50s 0/1
Top score 53
Balls bowled 6
Wickets 0
Bowling average –
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling –
Catches/stumpings 20/0
Source: Cricket Archive, 10 October 2014

Tom Reese was the older brother of Dan Reese, who captained New Zealand from 1907 to 1914. Tom played irregularly over two decades for Canterbury, batting low in the order. He reached fifty only once, when he made 53 against Hawke's Bay in 1903-04.[1] However, he was regarded as one of the best fieldsmen in New Zealand.[2] A spectacular catch he took in his first first-class match established his reputation:

Niven sent Dunlop hard to leg, and Reese, running along the boundary for some twenty or thirty yards, took a headlong dive, and was next seen at full length on the ground with his left arm extended just clear of the turf, and the ball held, to the surprise of the whole field. Niven's innings thus ended with the most brilliant catch that had ever been seen on the ground.[3]

Reese was a prominent batsman in Christchurch club cricket; in the 1906-07 season, playing for St Albans, he was the only player in the competition to score three centuries.[4] He captained Canterbury once, leading them to a five-wicket victory over Wellington in 1906-07.[5]

He formed a successful business partnership with Dan.[6] He wrote the first volume of his 1200-page history of New Zealand cricket, New Zealand Cricket, 1841–1914, in 1927, and the second volume, New Zealand Cricket, 1914–1933, in 1936.

References
  1. Hawke's Bay v Canterbury 1903-04
  2. Wisden 1950, p. 912.
  3. "Cricket history: Recorded by Tom Reese: Dominion's best team from 1860 to 1914". Nelson Evening Mail. 31 March 1927. p. 4.
  4. "Long Slip" (28 March 1907). "Cricket". Otago Daily Times: 5.
  5. Canterbury v Wellington 1906-07
  6. Greg Ryan, "Where the Game Was Played by Decent Chaps", PhD thesis, University of Canterbury, 1996, p. 217.
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