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Harold Watson (New Zealand cricketer)

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Harold Watson
Personal information
Full name
Harold Cooper Watson
Born(1879-12-24)24 December 1879
Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England
Died2 July 1958(1958-07-02) (aged 78)
Auckland, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
RelationsLeo Watson (brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1907/08–1914/15Otago
1917/18Canterbury
1923/24Wellington
Source: CricInfo, 26 May 2016

Harold Cooper Watson (24 December 1879 – 2 July 1958) was an English-born cricketer and cricket coach. He played first-class cricket in New Zealand for Otago, Canterbury, and Wellington between the 1907–08 and 1923–24 seasons.[1]

Watson was born at Calverton in the English county of Nottinghamshire in 1879.[2] He grew up in Lancashire where his father was a groundsman and the younger Watson played for Clifton Cricket Club in Salford. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1905 and after living at Huntly south of Auckland for a year, was employed as groundsman at the Carisbrook ground in Dunedin, replacing George Mills. He arrived in the city in mid-1906.[3][4]

Considered a "fine batsman" who played club cricket for Carisbrook, Watson made his representative debut for the Otago provincial side during the 1907–08 season. Other than a score of 40 made on debut, his batting was disappointing, although the innings against Canterbury was praised as "splendid".[5] The Press, a Christchurch paper, described the innings as "capital all-round batting" with many "first-class" strokes and considered him "one of Otago's best batsmen".[6] The innings was part of an Otago eighth-wicket record partnership of 75 with Alfred Eckhold.[6][7]

Despite his reputation, Watson only played one match for the side the following season and did not appear again for Otago until 1913–14. In total he played nine first-class matches for the side, scoring 198 runs and taking three wickets. The 40 runs he scored on debut remained his highest first-class score.[8]

The wickets Watson prepared at Carisbrook were soon considered "excellent",[9][10] and by 1910 he had begun to coach Carisbrook club sides.[11][12] In 1916 he left Dunedin to take up a position as the cricket coach at Christ's College in Christchurch,[13][14] coaching amongst others future New Zealand Test match captain Tom Lowry and batsman Roger Blunt.[15][16] He played for the West Christchurch club and made a single first-class appearance for Canterbury in a December 1917 match against Otago.[8][17] By December 1918 he was taking charge of coaching the Canterbury representative side[18] and in the winter of 1919 he set up an indoor cricket school in Christchurch, something considered "quite a novelty" in the city.[19]

By the end of 1921, Watson had moved to Wellington where he coached the representative side.[20][21][22] He visited England to visit sports manufacturers during 1922[23] and played a single first-class match for the Wellington representative side during the 1923–24 season, scoring 29 runs against Otago at Carisbrook.[8]

Watson later moved to farm on the North Island.[16] He died at Auckland in 1958 aged 78.[1] An obituary was published in the 1958 edition of the New Zealand Cricket Almanack.[2] His brother, Leo Watson, also played cricket, making a single first-class appearance for Otago during the 1911–12 season.[2][24]

References

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  1. ^ a b Harold Watson, CricInfo. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b c McCarron A (2010) New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 136. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. ISBN 978 1 905138 98 2 (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.)
  3. ^ Notes by Long Slip, Otago Witness, issue 2732, 25 July 1906, p. 58. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  4. ^ Notes by Long Slip, Otago Witness, issue 2734, 8 August 1906, p. 57. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  5. ^ Notes by Long Slip, Otago Witness, issue 2808, 8 January 1908, p. 61. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  6. ^ a b Interprovincial match: Canterbury v Otago, The Press, volume LXIII, issue 12997, 27 December 1907, p. 7. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  7. ^ Sports of all kinds, Evening Star, issue 12885, 26 February 1908, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  8. ^ a b c Harold Watson, CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 February 2024. (subscription required)
  9. ^ Carisbrook CC, Evening Star, issue 14476, 20 September 1910, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  10. ^ Carisbrook Cricket Club, Evening Star, issue 15600, 17 September 1914, p. 7. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  11. ^ Carisbrook Cricket Club, Otago Daily Times, issue 14943, 20 September 1910, p. 2. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  12. ^ Cricket, Otago Daily Times, issue 14938, 14 September 1910, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  13. ^ Personal, Otago Daily Times, issue 16629, 28 February 1916, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  14. ^ Cricket, Evening Star, issue 16298, 15 December 1916, p. 6. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  15. ^ Cricket, Evening Post, volume CIV, issue 44, 21 August 1922, p. 8. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  16. ^ a b Roger Blunt was coached by HC Watson, The Star, issue 18117, 29 March 1927, p. 9. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  17. ^ Cricket, Evening Star, issue 16253, 24 October 1916, p. 7. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  18. ^ Cricket, The Press, volume LIV, issue 16397, 17 December 1918, p. 4. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  19. ^ Indoor cricket, The Press, volume LV, issue 16612, 27 August 1919, p. 8. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  20. ^ Cricket, New Zealand Times, volume XLVIII, issue 11089, 21 December 1921, p. 8. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  21. ^ Cricket: the coming season, Evening Post, volume CIV, issue 67, 16 September 1922, p. 15. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  22. ^ Wellington Cricket Association, The Dominion, volume 15, issue 291, 4 September 1922, p. 9. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  23. ^ New Zealanders abroad, New Zealand Times, volume XLIX, issue 11273, 27 July 1922, p. 5. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 19 February 2024.)
  24. ^ Leo Watson, CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 February 2024. (subscription required)
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