Stewie Dempster

Stewie Dempster Biography

He played just 10 Tests, but for the stretch of his career Charles Stewart ‘Stewie’ Dempster was acknowledged as one of the finest batsmen of the world. And it was at a time when the cricket world saw the likes of Don Bradman, Herbert Sutcliffe, Wally Hammond and George Headley.

It was not that far-fetched a statement, though. In his 10 Tests, Dempster scored 723 runs at an incredible 65.72. He was indeed the first great batsmen of New Zealand and his average remains the highest among those, barring the obvious Bradman, who have played at least 10 Test innings.

His game was said to be like a smooth piece of machinery, but enjoyable in spite of the constant and metronomic accumulation of runs. He hit 136 and 80 not out on debut at Wellington against Harold Gilligan’s Englishmen, and amassed 1776 runs at 59.26 in the 1931 tour to England, including 53 and 120 in the first Test at Lord’s.

He opted to shift his base to England in the mid-1930s and was recruited by the eccentric millionaire Sir Julien Cahn to work for his store in Leicester, and thereby captain Leicestershire in the county championships. Dempster enjoyed phenomenal success in the three years as captain, managing 4,659 runs for the county side at 49.04 with 18 hundreds. This, in spite of being regularly poached by Cahn as one of the star players of the celebrated Sir Julien Cahn’s XI.

After the Second World War, Dempster moved back to New Zealand. He worked as a cricket coach and also dabbled seriously in the textile business.When England visited in 1946-47, Dempster was expected to play for the New Zealand team. At 43, he was still a force to reckon with. However, he was unfortunate to be involved in a golfing accident in which a sliver of gorse pierced his left eye. Hence, his Test career remained limited to 10 matches.

This fantastic batsman’s career record in First Class cricket stood at 12,145 runs at 44.98 with 35 hundreds. The C. S. Dempster Gates at Basin Reserve eloquently commemorate his contribution to New Zealand cricket.

Arunabha Sengupta

Stewie Dempster Batting & Fielding Averages

Career

Avg

100s

50s

Test

ODIs

T20s

World Cup

Stewie Dempster Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
ODIs	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
T20s	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		--