Ivan Walsh
New Zealand footballer and cricketer (1924–2005)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ivan Alexander Walsh (29 December 1924 – 12 May 2005) was an association football player who represented New Zealand at international level as a forward.[1] He was also a first-class cricketer.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ivan Alexander Walsh | ||
| Date of birth | 29 December 1924 | ||
| Place of birth | Dunedin, New Zealand | ||
| Date of death | 12 May 2005 (aged 80) | ||
| Place of death | Dunedin, New Zealand | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Northern | |||
| International career | |||
| 1951 | New Zealand | 4 | (4) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Football career
Walsh was born in 1924 at Dunedin and was educated at the Christian Brothers School there.[3][4] He played soccer for the Northern Club in the city and by 1948 was playing for the Otago representative side.[5][6]
Walsh scored on his full New Zealand debut in a 6–4 win over New Caledonia on 22 September 1951[7] and ended his international playing career with four official A-international caps and four goals to his credit,[1][8] scoring a hat-trick in his final appearance, a 9–0 win over New Hebrides on 4 October 1951.[7]
Cricket career
| Cricket information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1948/49–1949/50 | Otago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Cricinfo, 4 June 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Walsh also played cricket at a representative level. A right-arm medium paced bowler, he played for the North East Valley club in Dunedin alongside his brother Brian.[9][10] Considered "one of the most promising medium-paced bowlers" that Otago had "had for some years" with "exceptional promise",[11] he played three times for Otago in the Plunket Shield.[12] He made his debut for the side in January 1949, opening the bowling and taking seven wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings, against Wellington at Carisbrook.[10][13][14]
The Otago Daily Times felt that he was the "find of the match"[11] and it was expected that he would become one of the "mainstays" of the Otago side in future seasons.[10] After taking seven wickets against Southland in a non-first-class match in December 1949, Walsh was included in the Otago side for the season's Shield matches in 1949–50.[15] He played in the first two matches but took only one wicket and was left out of the side for the final Shield match of the season against Canterbury.[12][16] He was not selected in the Otago practice squad later in the season and did not regain his place in the side in future seasons.[17]
Later life
Walsh worked as a teacher.[3] He died at Dunedin in 2005 aged 80.[4][14] Obituaries were published in the 2005 New Zealand Cricket Almanack and in the 2006 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.[3]