Cricketing legend to be honoured

6/3/2009

Otago and New Zealand cricket enthusiasts travelling to the New Road ground in Worcestershire in England may soon be able to watch play from the Glenn Turner Stand or stay in a group of flats named after him.

Glenn Turner (1961-64)

Glenn (1961-64) carved out a memorable first-class and test career* with much of his time – 1967 to 1982 – spent with Worcestershire and it has been reported by the Worcester News that he will be ‘immortalised’ as the club continues redeveloping its New Road ground.

Turner, who also captained Worcestershire in 1981, was one of three players for the county who scored 100 first-class centuries. He is now convener of selectors for New Zealand Cricket.

The Graeme Hick Pavilion and Tom Graveney Members’ Lounge are being built, and Worcestershire chairman Martyn Price said Turner was next in line to be honoured.

Another Worcestershire great, Basil D’Oliveira, had a stand named after him in 2004.

Price said the club was awaiting a decision from Worcester City Council on its application for a 120-bedroom hotel to be built next to the ground. With the hotel set to fund the final stage of the £15 million ($NZ42.5 million) ground development, Price said Turner should be honoured in a similar way to Hick and Graveney.

* Glenn Turner scored 2,991 runs in 41 tests at an average of 44.64. That tally included seven centuries. In ODIs he scored 1,598 runs at 47.00, going past 100 on three occasions. In a staggering 455 first class matches Glenn scored 34,346 runs at 49.70 with 103 centuries and 148 50s. His brought up his 100th first class century by scoring 311 not out for Worcestershire against Warwickshire in May 1982.

In two senses the most professional cricketer ever produced by New Zealand, Glenn Turner made himself a household name throughout the cricket world by dedicating himself to cricket from an early age and making the best possible use of a considerable natural ability. Unswervingly single-minded in his pursuit of runs, unashamedly ambitious and often impatient of amateur administrators in New Zealand, his career with Worcestershire was the key to his success everywhere else. He deliberately enrolled in the hard school of county cricket, learnt his lessons quickly and never forgot them. Almost frail-looking, pale-faced and serious-minded, Turner was an immaculately straight-playing opener, who defended with a solidity of technique few contemporaries matched. Although limited in his early days, he eventually played every shot on demand, and scored as fast as anyone when necessary. His most characteristic shots were the off-drive and a beautifully-timed drive to midwicket with the face of the bat turned on impact. He began his Test career with a duck, but the broad canvas of the five-day game suited his tempo and temperament, giving a cultured craftsman the opportunity to build his innings steadily, soberly and coolly. He twice carried his bat through a completed Test innings, and in the West Indies in 1971-72 hit four double-centuries in all matches, including successive innings of 259 at Georgetown. Turner captained New Zealand in ten Tests, but relinquished the job after one of his regular disagreements with administrators. He managed New Zealand's teams in Australia and England in 1985-86, and was reappointed in 1995. He coached Otago and is currently the convenor of the national selection panel. Wisden CricInfo