Personal information | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | Nelson, New Zealand | 3 March 1911||||||||||||||
Died | 14 July 1966 Oxford, England | (aged 55)||||||||||||||
Role | Wicket-keeper | ||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
1929/30–1933/34 | Otago | ||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Source: ESPNcricinfo, 18 August 2020 |
William Hawksworth OBE (3 March 1911 – 14 July 1966) was a New Zealand cricketer and doctor.
Hawksworth was born at Nelson in 1911 and educated at Wairarapa High School and then at Nelson College from 1925 to 1928.[1][2] He went on to study medicine at the University of Otago, graduating MB ChB in 1935.[3] He won the university medal for obstetrics.[4]
He played twelve first-class matches as a wicket-keeper for Otago between the 1929–30 and 1933–34 seasons. He represented the province whilst studying in Dunedin, and played no first-class cricket after graduating as a doctor in 1935.[5] He scored a total of 162 first-class runs, with a highest score of 27 not out. He scored 21 runs in an innings which formed part of a tenth wicket partnership of 184 runs with Roger Blunt. The partnership, which was made against Canterbury at Lancaster Park in December 1931, set a record for the tenth wicket in New Zealand domestic cricket which, as of January 2024, still stands.[2][6][7]
Hawksworth worked as house surgeon at New Plymouth Hospital before moving to London in the late 1930s to continue his studies.[8] He married Roberta Jolliffe of Wellington in London in July 1940.[8]
Hawksworth served in the Medical Corps of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War II. He served in North Africa, Greece, Crete and Italy, commanding a field ambulance.[9] He was awarded the OBE for his services.[10]
After the war Hawksworth returned to England. He became a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist to the United Oxford Hospitals. In 1959 he received the degree of MA Oxon as a Fellow of University College. He served on the Council of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for six years.[9] Among his patients in Oxford was the American actress Patricia Neal, who gave birth in 1965 after being partially paralysed by a series of strokes.[11]
Hawksworth died in Oxford after a short illness in July 1966, aged 55. He was survived by his widow, a son and two daughters.[9][11]