Charles Stewart 'Stewie' Dempster (born 15 November 1903 in Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, died 14 February 1974 in Wellington) was a former New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er and coach. As well as representing New Zealand

New Zealand cricket team

The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...

, he also played for Wellington, Scotland

Scottish cricket team

The Scotland national cricket team represents Scotland in the game of cricket. They compete in the Clydesdale Bank 40 as the Scottish Saltires...

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....

 and Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Cricket Club

Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...

.

Career in New Zealand

Dempster made his first first class appearance for Wellington against Canterbury at the Basin Reserve

Basin Reserve

The Basin Reserve , is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand, used for Test, first-class and one-day cricket. Some argue that its proximity to the city, its Historic Place status and its age make it the most famous cricket ground in New Zealand...

 over new year 1921/1922 scoring 10 and 1.
Dempster first toured with New Zealand in 1927

New Zealand cricket team in England in 1927

The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1927 season. The team contained many of the players who would later play Test cricket for New Zealand, but the tour did not include any Test matches and the 1927 English cricket season was the last, apart from the Second World War years and the...

, when no Test matches were played, and headed the touring team's first class batting averages. He was a surprise choice for the tour, being selected more for his performances in second class cricket. In the 1929-30 MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 tour of New Zealand Dempster and Mills

John Mills (cricketer)

John Ernest 'Jackie' Mills was a New Zealand cricketer who played in seven Tests from 1930 to 1933....

 put on a New Zealand record first innings stand of 276 for the first wicket, which remained the highest for New Zealand until 1972 http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Matches/MatchOpeningStands200.asp?SortOrder=Stand. In the 1931 New Zealand tour of England

New Zealand cricket team in England in 1931

The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1931 season. The tour was the first tour by a New Zealand team in which Test matches were arranged. Originally, only one Test was planned, but New Zealand acquitted themselves so well in the first match and in the game against MCC that matches...

 he average 59.26 and scored 120 in the Test at Lord's

Lord's Cricket Ground

Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

. In 1932 he was listed as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year

Wisden Cricketers of the Year

The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...

He made his final Test appearance against the 1932/1933 England team scoring 83 not out.

Move to England

Dempster moved to England appearing in one first class match for Lindsay Parkinson's XI in 1933 and once for Scotland in 1934. He settled in England from 1935 being contracted by the Leicestershire millionaire Sir Julian Cahn to play for his private team. Dempster qualified for Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....

, captaining the team from 1936 to 1938, although playing irregularly in 1938 and 39. In 1938/1939, he toured New Zealand with Cahn's team.

Post war

Dempster appeared for the County scratch sides during the war but left the staff when the war ended. He played three times for Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Cricket Club

Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...

 in 1946 before returning to New Zealand to become a coach and making his final appearance for Wellington against Auckland at Eden Park in January 1948 scoring 7 and 41.

Dempster has the distinction of having the second highest Test batting average in history for completed careers of 10 or more innings, behind Sir Donald Bradman

Donald Bradman

Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...

.

External links