Right-hander’s Ultimate Innings

Walter Mervyn Wallace, one of New Zealand’s greatest batsmen has died, aged 91. As a young man Merv Wallace appeared such a prodigy that the New Zealand press did not scruple to make allusions to Don Bradman. While no one has been able to sustain that comparison, there was never any question of Wallace’s extraordinary natural ability. A key player of the Parnell Club side at only 16, Wallace made his debut for Auckland in the Plunket Shield in December 1933, and first represented New Zealand (though not in a Test) against Errol Holmes’s MCC side in 1935-36. Wallace played 13 tests between 1937 and the 1953 seasons. He served as New Zealand’s coach in the team’s 1956 Indian and Pakistan tour, and was Test selector for a number of years. From 1947 to 1982 he ran a sports shop with New Zealand tennis player Bill Webb. Of Wallace, former New Zealand captain John Reid said he was: “The most under-rated cricketer to have worn the silver fern.”

Walter Mervyn Wallace: 19 December 1916 – 21 March 2008