Hugh Lusk
Hugh Lusk, 1898-99
Personal information
Full name
Hugh Butler Lusk
Born(1866-01-12)12 January 1866
Mangonui, Northland, New Zealand
Died26 February 1944(1944-02-26) (aged 78)
Napier, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
RelationsHugh Lusk (father)
Harold Lusk (brother)
William Lee Rees (father-in-law)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1889-90Auckland
1891-92 to 1908-09Hawke'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

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

Life and career

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

Lusk married Bessie Rees, a daughter of William Lee Rees and a niece of W. G. Grace, in Auckland in March 1891.[2][3][4] He became Crown Solicitor for Hawke's Bay in 1902, succeeding another cricketer, Arthur Cotterill.[5] He retained the position until his death.[6] He practised law in Napier for more than 50 years and was a member of the council of the New Zealand Law Society for 30 years.[7]

Cricket

Lusk 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.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10]

He made his debut for New Zealand in 1896-97, making 59 and 23 in a victory over Queensland.[11] 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).[12] With 250 runs at an average of 31.25, he was the highest-scoring New Zealand batsman of the season.[13]

In the first match the next season Lusk scored his and Hawke's Bay's first century, 119 in a loss to Canterbury.[14] It was the highest score of the season, and again he topped the national run tally, this time with 280 runs at 40.00.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]

Lusk played his last first-class match, still as captain of Hawke's Bay, in 1909, just before his 43rd birthday. In 28 first-class matches for Hawke's Bay he scored 1395 runs at 28.46.[18] He served as President of the New Zealand Cricket Council in the 1930s.[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Auckland Star, 28 February 1944, p. 5.
  2. ↑ "An Interesting Wedding". Auckland Star: 2. 24 March 1891.
  3. ↑ "Object details". NZ Cricket Museum. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  4. ↑ Dan Reese, Was It All Cricket?, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1948, p. 190.
  5. ↑ Bush Advocate, 5 September 1902, p. 2.
  6. ↑ The New Zealand Herald, 28 February 1944, p. 1.
  7. ↑ "Late Mr. H. B. Lusk". Evening Post: 9. 4 March 1944.
  8. ↑ Auckland v New South Wales 1889-90
  9. ↑ Taranaki v Hawke's Bay 1891-92
  10. ↑ Hawke's Bay v Wellington 1895-96
  11. ↑ New Zealand v Queensland 1896-97
  12. ↑ Greg Ryan, "Where the Game Was Played by Decent Chaps", PhD thesis, University of Canterbury, 1996, pp. 247.
  13. ↑ 1896-97 batting by average
  14. ↑ Hawke's Bay v Canterbury 1897-98
  15. ↑ 1897-98 batting by average
  16. ↑ Hawke's Bay v Auckland 1900-01
  17. ↑ Hawke's Bay v Wellington 1907-08
  18. ↑ Hugh Lusk batting for each team
  19. ↑ "[Untitled]". Press: 13. 23 May 1933.
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