Verdun Scott

SCOTT, VERDUN JOHN, who died suddenly at Devonport, New Zealand, on August 2, 1980, played in ten Tests for New Zealand between 1946 and 1952, and was a member of the side which toured England in 1949. Though overshadowed by Sutcliffe and Donnelly, he was one of their most dependable batsmen, scoring 1,572 runs with an average of 40.30 and making four hundreds.

A big man, he had hardly any backlift and was no stylist, but he was very strong in the arms and his strokes travelled deceptively fast. He was an ideal foil to Sutcliffe as an opening partner and their value can be gauged from the fact that in the Tests of 1949 they took part in partnerships of 122 at Leeds, 89 at Lord's and 121 at The Oval. His highest Test score was against West Indies in 1952 when he saved the side with an innings of 84 in rather over four hours. For Auckland in the Plunket Shield he was a heavy scorer.