Hugh Lusk (cricketer)

Hugh Butler Lusk (12 January 1866 – 26 February 1944) was a New Zealand cricketer and lawyer.

Hugh Lusk

Hugh Lusk, 1898-99
Personal information
Full name	Hugh Butler Lusk
Born	12 January 1866 Mangonui, Northland, New Zealand
Died	26 February 1944 (aged 78) Napier, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Relations	Hugh Lusk (father) Harold Lusk (cousin) William Lee Rees (father-in-law)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1889-90	Auckland
1891-92 to 1908-09	Hawke's Bay
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 38 Runs scored 1688 Batting average 25.19 100s/50s 3/8 Top score 120 Balls bowled 2519 Wickets 51 Bowling average 21.80 5 wickets in innings 2 10 wickets in match 1 Best bowling 7/53 Catches/stumpings 14/0
Source: Cricket Archive, 3 October 2014

Life and career

After attending Auckland Grammar School, Lusk studied law. He was admitted to the Bar in 1890.[1]

He made his first-class cricket debut for Auckland in 1889-90, playing five matches as a middle-order batsman and opening bowler. He had little success with the bat, but took eight wickets in two matches against the touring New South Wales team, including figures of 5 for 35 in the first match.[2]

He moved to Napier, and began playing for Hawke's Bay in 1891-92. In his first match he top-scored with 62 in an innings victory over Taranaki.[3] He was selected for North Island against New South Wales in 1893-94, second-top-scoring in each innings with 39 and 21. Now captaining Hawke's Bay, he played a leading part in the match against Wellington in 1895-96, making 14 and 41 and taking 4 for 18 and 7 for 53.[4]

He made his debut for New Zealand in 1896-97, making 59 and 23 in a victory over Queensland.[5] He was the only Hawke's Bay player to represent New Zealand during Hawke's Bay's period as a first-class side (1884 to 1921).[6] With 250 runs at an average of 31.25, he was the highest-scoring New Zealand batsman of the season.[7]

In the first match the next season Lusk scored his and Hawke's Bay's first century, 119 in a loss to Canterbury.[8] It was the highest score of the season, and again he topped the national run tally, this time with 280 runs at 40.00.[9] He went on New Zealand's short tour of Australia in 1898-99, but had little success in the two first-class games. In 1900-01 he scored his second century, 120, when he led Hawke's Bay to an innings victory over Auckland.[10] He played for New Zealand against Lord Hawke's XI in 1902-03. He scored his third and final century against Wellington in 1907-08.[11]

He played his last first-class match, still as captain of Hawke's Bay, in 1909, just before his 43rd birthday. In all 28 first-class matches for Hawke's Bay he scored 1395 runs at 28.46.[12]

His wife Elizabeth was a daughter of William Lee Rees and a niece of W. G. Grace.[13][14] Lusk became Crown Solicitor for Hawke's Bay in 1902, succeeding another cricketer, Arthur Cotterill.[15] He retained the position until his death.[16]

See also

• List of Auckland representative cricketers

References

1. Auckland Star, 28 February 1944, p. 5.
2. Auckland v New South Wales 1889-90
3. Taranaki v Hawke's Bay 1891-92
4. Hawke's Bay v Wellington 1895-96
5. New Zealand v Queensland 1896-97
6. Greg Ryan, "Where the Game Was Played by Decent Chaps", PhD thesis, University of Canterbury, 1996, pp. 247.
7. 1896-97 batting by average
8. Hawke's Bay v Canterbury 1897-98
9. 1897-98 batting by average
10. Hawke's Bay v Auckland 1900-01
11. Hawke's Bay v Wellington 1907-08
12. Hugh Lusk batting for each team
13. "Object details". NZ Cricket Museum. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
14. Dan Reese, Was It All Cricket?, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1948, p. 190.
15. Bush Advocate, 5 September 1902, p. 2.
16. New Zealand Herald, 28 February 1944, p. 1.

External links

• Hugh Lusk at CricketArchive