Arthur Cresswell

{{short description|New Zealand cricketer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2013}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Arthur Cresswell

| image =

| caption =

| country = New Zealand

| fullname = Arthur Edward Cresswell

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|8|7|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|8|3|1917|8|7|df=yes}}

| death_place = Blenheim, New Zealand

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling = Right-arm fast-medium

| role =

| family = Fen Cresswell (brother)

| club1 = Wellington

| year1 = {{nowrap|1948/49–1949/50}}

| club2 = Central Districts

| year2 = 1950/51–1951/52

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 13

| runs1 = 96

| bat avg1 = 8.00

| 100s/50s1 = 0/0

| top score1 = 18

| deliveries1 = 2,178

| wickets1 = 38

| bowl avg1 = 22.55

| fivefor1 = 2

| tenfor1 = 0

| best bowling1 = 5/32

| catches/stumpings1 = 7/–

| date = 21 April

| year = 2017

| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/content/player/36779.html Cricinfo

}}

Arthur Edward Cresswell (7 August 1917 – 3 August 2002) was a New Zealand cricketer who played for Wellington and was one of the first players who played for Central Districts in the early 1950s. He was the younger brother of Fen Cresswell.

A right-arm fast-medium bowler, Cresswell was first selected for Marlborough as an 18-year-old in 1935 from the Wairau Club. During World War II he served in the New Zealand Army{{cite web|title=Arthur Edward Cresswell|url=http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/145195|website=Auckland Museum|accessdate=10 February 2018}} and was a leading member of the New Zealand Army XI, along with players such as Bert Sutcliffe and Verdun Scott.{{cite web|last1=McConnell|first1=Lynn|title=Marlborough identity Arthur Cresswell dies|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/content/story/111858.html|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|accessdate=1 January 2018}}

After the war Cresswell was unhappy with the opportunities to play regular cricket in Marlborough and decided to play club cricket in Wellington, commuting from Blenheim to Wellington by Tiger Moth aeroplane every weekend.

Cresswell played for Wellington between 1948 and 1950 and Central Districts between 1950 and 1952, finishing his career with 13 first-class matches in which he took 38 wickets at 22.55. His best innings figures came in his second first-class match, for Wellington against Canterbury at Wellington in 1948–49, when he took 3 for 41 and 5 for 32 in an eight-wicket victory for Wellington;{{cite web|title=Wellington v Canterbury 1948–49|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/18/18751.html|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=1 January 2018}} his best match figures came two weeks later in the next match, against Otago in Dunedin, when he took 5 for 57 and 4 for 58.{{cite web|title=Otago v Wellington 1948–49|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/18/18762.html|publisher=CricketArchive |accessdate=1 January 2018}} He was one of the New Zealand Cricket Almanack Players of the Year in 1949.