William Gardiner (cricketer)

{{short description|New Zealand cricketer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2016}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = William Gardiner

| image =

| country =

| fullname =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1864|7|14|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand

| death_date = {{death date and age|1924|1|27|1864|7|14|df=yes}}

| death_place = Wellington, New Zealand

| batting =

| bowling =

| role = Batsman

| club1 = Auckland

| year1 = {{nowrap|1889/90–1893/94}}

| club2 = Wellington

| year2 = 1895/96

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 13

| runs1 = 383

| bat avg1 = 17.40

| 100s/50s1 = 0/2

| top score1 = 61

| hidedeliveries = true

| catches/stumpings1 = 6/–

| date = 24 February 2021

| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37125.html Cricinfo

}}

William Gardiner (14 July 1864 – 27 January 1924) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played first-class cricket for Auckland and Wellington between 1882 and 1896.{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37125.html |title=William Gardiner |access-date=11 June 2016 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}{{Cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/21/21927/21927.html |title=William Gardiner |access-date=11 June 2016 |publisher=CricketArchive}}

In the 1892–93 season Gardiner was regarded as the best batsman in Auckland and "one of the best in the colony", as well as a reliable fieldsman.{{cite journal |title=Interprovincial Cricket |journal=Observer |date=31 December 1892 |page=11 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TO18921231.2.20}} His highest first-class score was 61, the only fifty in the match, when Auckland beat Canterbury in 1891–92.{{cite web |title=Auckland v Canterbury 1891-92 |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/3/3785.html |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=24 February 2021}} He top-scored for Wellington with 59 in the drawn match against Hawke's Bay in 1895–96, his last first-class match.{{cite web |title=Hawke's Bay v Wellington 1895-96 |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4483.html |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=24 February 2021}}

Gardiner also played rugby for Auckland in the 1880s until a shoulder injury curtailed his career. He worked as a builder and contractor, his company being noted for building bridges and wharfs. He and his wife Catherine had one son, Norman. Gardiner died in Wellington aged 59 after a severe illness.{{cite journal|title=Mr William Gardiner. Well-known ex-athlete.|journal=The New Zealand Herald|date=31 January 1924|volume=LXI|issue=18621|page= 10|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19240131.2.137|access-date=12 May 2017}}{{cite journal|title=Mr William Gardiner|journal=Evening Post|date=28 January 1924|volume=CVII|issue=23|page= 8|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19240128.2.79|access-date=12 May 2017}}