Dick Motz

Richard Charles Motz (12 January 1940 – 29 April 2007) was a New Zealand cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler and hard-hitting lower order batsman, Motz played 32 Test matches for the New Zealand cricket team between 1961 and 1969. He was the first bowler for New Zealand to take 100 wickets in Test cricket.[1]

Dick Motz
Dick Motz hitting a six against the MCC in 1960–61
Personal information
Full nameRichard Charles Motz
Born(1940-01-12)12 January 1940
Christchurch, New Zealand
Died29 April 2007(2007-04-29) (aged 67)
Christchurch, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 92)8 December 1961 v South Africa
Last Test21 August 1969 v England
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 32 142
Runs scored 612 3,494
Batting average 11.54 17.12
100s/50s 0/3 1/13
Top score 60 103*
Balls bowled 7,034 29,773
Wickets 100 518
Bowling average 31.48 22.71
5 wickets in innings 5 24
10 wickets in match 0 4
Best bowling 6/63 8/61
Catches/stumpings 9/– 41/–
Source: Cricinfo, 1 April 2017

Early life

Motz was born in Christchurch. He was educated at North New Brighton primary school and Linwood High School, excelling as an all-rounder at both.[2] He also played rugby, tennis, badminton and golf. He played as full-back for the New Brighton rugby team for two years after leaving school.[3]

Domestic career

He played domestic cricket for Canterbury, making his debut in the Plunket Shield in 1957, while still a schoolboy, taking 4 for 40 at his first outing.[3][4] He made his reputation as a hostile fast bowler, and a big-hitting lower order batsman.

His best first-class performances were in New Zealand domestic cricket. He took 8 wickets for 61 runs against Wellington in 1966–67,[5] and scored 103 not out against Otago in 1967–68,[6] making his only first-class century inside an hour.[7] On tour to Australia in 1967–68, he scored 94 against South Australia,[8] including 76 runs from boundaries (6 sixes and 10 fours).[7]

International career

He was one of five New Zealand players and seven South Africans to make their Test debut in the 1st Test at Durban in December 1961.[9] He took 81 wickets on the tour, at a bowling average of 19, including 19 wickets in the five Tests.[7]

He took five wickets in an innings five times in Tests, once in England and twice at home against each of India and West Indies. He was also a handy lower-order batsman, scoring three Test half-centuries, all at home against England.

In 1968, he was the first bowler to be banned from bowling in a Test due to running on the wicket.[7][10] In his last Test, the third Test against England at The Oval in August 1969,[11] Motz became the first New Zealand bowler to take 100 Test wickets when he trapped Phil Sharpe leg before wicket (his only wicket of the match).[3]

Motz was New Zealand Cricket Almanack Player of the Year in 1961, South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year in 1962, and a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1966.[2][12]

After cricket

Motz's playing career ended at the age of 29, after he was found to have a displaced vertebra – indeed, he had been playing with a bad back for over a year.[3][7] After his retirement from cricket, he became a taxi driver. He also ran a sports business, and then ran a pub in Timaru. In later years, he put on considerable weight, ending over 30 stone.[3]

He was inducted to the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

He was married twice. His first marriage, to cricketer Loretta Todd, ended in divorce in 1987. They had a son and two daughters. His son, Wayne, was murdered in 1989.[3] He remarried, to Josephine Cole.

He died in Christchurch.[7][13] He was found dead at his home by his former captain, Graham Dowling. He was survived by his two daughters from his first marriage.

References
  1. "Captain calypso". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  2. R. T. Brittenden. "1966 Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Dick Motz". Wisden. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  3. Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 7 May 2007
  4. Scorecard, Canterbury v Northern Districts, Plunket Shield 1957/58, from CricketArchive.
  5. Scorecard, Canterbury v Wellington, Plunket Shield 1966/67, from CricketArchive.
  6. Scorecard, Canterbury v Otago, Plunket Shield 1967–68, from CricketArchive.
  7. Obituary Archived 1 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent, 11 May 2007
  8. Scorecard, South Australia v New Zealanders, November 1967, from CricketArchive.
  9. Scorecard, South Africa v New Zealand, 1st Test, 1961–62, from Cricinfo.
  10. Former fast bowler Dick Motz dies, Cricinfo, 29 April 2007.
  11. Scorecard, England v New Zealand, 3rd Test, 1969, from Cricinfo.
  12. Profile from CricketArchive.
  13. AAP (30 April 2007). "NZ cricketer Dick Motz dead at 67". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
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