TOM PRITCHARD – 100 NOT OUT Tom Pritchard, the former Warwickshire and Kent fast bowler, today celebrated his 100th birthday in his native New Zealand. Pritchard is the second current surviving PCA member to become a centenarian after John Manners, the former Hampshire batsman, who is now into his 103rd year. Pritchard retains a keen interest in the PCA and follows our activities through his twice-yearly copy of ‘Beyond The Boundaries’. He has generously donated two signed copies of his biography, ‘Tom Pritchard: Greatness Denied’, which will be auctioned during the year to raise money for the PCA Legacy Year Appeal. Although Manners is the last surviving player to have appeared in county cricket before World War II, Pritchard, who hails from Kaupokonui, made his first-class debut for Wellington on New Year’s Eve 1937. But his cricket career was interrupted when Pritchard was in his prime which partly explains why he never played Test cricket for New Zealand. Pritchard took six wickets against his native country for Warwickshire in 1949 but remained uncapped. He met Warwickshire batsman and future captain Tom Dollery while they were serving in the army in Italy and it was Dollery who persuaded Pritchard to return to England with him and to try his hand in county cricket. Pritchard proved a huge success on and his off the pitch during his 10 seasons with Warwickshire. He took 685 wickets in 170 matches for the county and was a popular figure with members and supporters at Edgbaston who appreciated his whole-hearted performances and amiable personality. Tom playing for a Commonwealth XI in 1950 Pritchard played for New Zealand Services in a first-class match at the Scarborough Festival in 1945 and made his Warwickshire debut, at the age of 30, against India in 1946. He took 93 wickets in 1947, his first full season of county cricket, and 172 the following year, the first of four successive seasons in which he took 100 wickets. After leaving Warwickshire, Pritchard played a season with Kent in 1956 but took only 11 wickets in four matches, his last against Warwickshire at Coventry. He ended his career with 818 wickets in 200 first-class matches. Pritchard later enjoyed a successful business career before returning to New Zealand in 1986 where he has since joined a long, happy and active retirement in Levin, where he is a well-known figure in horse racing and breeding circles. Pritchard’s wife passed away in 2009 but he has two daughters, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. One of his grandsons, David Meiring, has played first-class cricket for Central Districts. His biography was written by Paul Williams and published in 2013.
