Schoolboy test cricketer celebrated

Ronald Cardwell spends his free time writing books, having published over 50 titles on the history of cricket.

Last week, he was in Nelson for the launch of his newest title, ‘Doug Freeman - Schoolboy Test Cricketer’.

Having lived next door to Doug in Sydney, Ronald says he had always promised to do a story on the life and times of New Zealand’s second youngest international representative.

Doug was selected for the Black Caps for two tests against England in 1933 while still attending Nelson College, making his debut at the age of 18 years and 197 days.

He held the record of New Zealand’s youngest player until 1997, when he was surpassed by Daniel Vettori, but still holds onto the title of the nation’s only cricketer to play for his country while still at school.

Having started playing cricket at the age of 15 after showing promise in the nets at a lunchtime pick up game, Doug was a natural and almost immediately saw a meteoric rise to the top.

The young leg-spinner made his test debut three years later, just two months after his first-class debut where he took nine wickets for Wellington against Auckland.

His selection for the Wellington team came after playing just two games for Nelson in the Hawke Cup, having been picked up after taking 18 wickets in a game including a 10fer in the local club competition.

Unfortunately for Doug, the rise to stardom was short lived and he never played another first class game after his two test match appearances.

“He sort of went into a sense of depression and he didn’t play cricket for a while as far as I can tell,” says Ronald.

“Whilst he was a very good promising young player, he was a shy person. A lot of selectors came from Christchurch and being in Nellson, he never got any more chances.”

Doug would then move to Fiji for work with the Colonial Sugar Refining Company and would be instrumental in instilling a culture of cricket in the island nation.

“There always needs to be somebody who’s that catalyst and Freeman was that for Fiji,” says Ronald.

Doug would captain the Fijian team and then into a coaching role before he moved to Sydney for work in the 1950s.

That’s where he met Ronald and the pair would spend hours talking about cricket history and their life’s story.

Ronald says he always planned to write the book, having come to Nelson eight years ago to look at the Nelson College records.

The book is extensively researched, with over 100 footnotes and dozens of pictures from throughout the eras of Doug’s career and life.

“I like to tell stories in today’s world of sport about what legacies we need to continue.”