Alister Howden
{{short description|New Zealand cricketer (1877-1938)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = Alister Howden
| image = AM Howden NZ Herald 26 11 1938.jpg
| caption = Alister Howden in 1910
| country = New Zealand
| fullname = Alister MacDonald Howden
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|8|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Rothesay, Bute, Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1938|11|25|1877|8|20}}
| death_place = Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm leg-spin
| family = {{ubl|Ernest Howden (brother)|Peter Howden (nephew)}}
| club1 = Auckland
| year1 = {{nowrap|1906/07–1914/15}}
| columns = 1
| column1 = First-class
| matches1 = 11
| runs1 = 95
| bat avg1 = 7.91
| 100s/50s1 = 0/0
| top score1 = 29
| deliveries1 = 1,888
| wickets1 = 53
| bowl avg1 = 18.00
| fivefor1 = 4
| tenfor1 = 1
| best bowling1 = 7/87
| catches/stumpings1= 5/–
| date = 1 November
| year = 2017
| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37445.html Cricinfo
}}
Alister MacDonald Howden (20 August 1877 – 25 November 1938) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played first-class cricket for Auckland between 1906 and 1914.{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37445.html |title=Alister Howden |accessdate=12 June 2016 |work=ESPN Cricinfo}}
Life and career
Howden was born in Scotland and moved to New Zealand with his family as a boy. After attending Otago Boys' High School he worked for the Bank of Australasia in Invercargill before taking other positions in financial institutions in New Zealand.{{cite journal |title=Citizen's Death: Mr. A. M. Howden |journal=New Zealand Herald |date=26 November 1938 |page=17 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19381126.2.164}} He went into business as a grain and produce merchant in Auckland in the 1900s.
In 1908-09 Howden took 7 for 87 and 5 for 61 with his leg-spin to help Auckland retain the Plunket Shield against Otago, dismissing his brother Ernest in each innings.{{cite web |title=Auckland v Otago 1908-09 |url=http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/7/7760.html |website=CricketArchive |accessdate=14 April 2019}} In January 1910, after Howden had taken six wickets against Canterbury and eight against Wellington to help Auckland retain the Shield, an Auckland cricket writer said: "it is the opinion of many experts that he is without exception the best bowler in New Zealand at present".{{cite journal |title=Cricket: Notes and Comments |journal=New Zealand Herald |date=19 January 1910 |page=5 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19100119.2.21.1}} He was selected in the first of the two matches New Zealand played against Australia later that season, but had no success.Don Neely & Richard Payne, Men in White: The History of New Zealand International Cricket, 1894–1985, Moa, Auckland, 1986, p. 51.
He was also an accomplished golfer who won several local championships.
Howden died in November 1938, aged 61, survived by his wife and four sons. He left an estate worth 11,000 pounds.{{cite journal |title=Auckland Estates |journal=New Zealand Herald |date=20 December 1938 |page=15 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19381220.2.148}} A short biography (containing family trees) titled Alister MacDonald Howden: A True Sportsman 1875-1938 was published in 2015.{{cite web |title=Alister MacDonald Howden: a true sportsman |url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/record/am_library-catalogq40-86987 |website=Auckland Museum |access-date=13 August 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{ESPNcricinfo|id=37445}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howden, Alister}}
Category:Sportspeople from Rothesay, Bute
Category:Cricketers from Argyll and Bute
Category:New Zealand cricketers
Category:People educated at Otago Boys' High School