Hero at the crease

“It’s remarkable that a biography had not been written on one of New Zealand’s most distinctive sports figures before now,” writes The New Zealand Herald’s David Leggat after the launch of Richard Boock’s The Last Everyday Hero: The Bert Sutcliffe Story. A project of Dunedin author and cricket lover Rod Nye, who died six years ago, and completed by former Herald sports writer Boock, The Last Everyday Hero details the life of Sutcliffe, who for years was New Zealand cricket for thousands of young, and not so young, fans. Boock was quick to praise Nye, describing his research as a “precious resource”. “A lot of the people he interviewed have also since died,” Boock said. “It is an amazing resource. And time does not diminish the story at all.” Sutcliffe was recently inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He died in 21, aged 77. Nye also documented the life of New Zealand’s other famed left-hander, in the biography: Martin Donnelly: New Zealand cricket’s master craftsman.