Alf Cate

William Alfred Cate (22 November 1878 – 22 October 1939) was a New Zealand cricketer who played four matches of first-class cricket for Wellington between 1908 and 1922, and represented New Zealand in 1922–23.

Alf Cate

Personal information
Full name	William Alfred Cate
Born	(1878-11-22)22 November 1878 Upper Hutt, New Zealand
Died	22 October 1939(1939-10-22) (aged 60) Petone, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Role	Wicket-keeper
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1908/09–1922/23	Wellington
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 5 Runs scored 43 Batting average 6.14 100s/50s 0/0 Top score 11 Catches/stumpings 4/2
Source: CricketArchive, 20 April 2017

Alf Cate worked as a wool classer in Wellington, and taught wool classing at the Hutt Valley Memorial Technical College for 25 years. He and his wife had a daughter.^[1]

A wicket-keeper, Cate made his first-class debut in 1908, but then had to wait until 1920 before he played again, partly because Wellington had New Zealand representative wicket-keepers in Jeremiah Mahoney and James Condliffe in this period, but also because he was unable to make himself available.^[1] Despite his age (44) and lack of first-class experience, Cate replaced Condliffe as New Zealand's wicket-keeper in the third of the three matches New Zealand played against MCC in 1922–23.^[2] It was his last first-class match.

The former New Zealand captain Tom Cobcroft, writing in the New Zealand Truth, regarded Cate still as New Zealand's best wicket-keeper in 1925, when Cate was 47, hampered by ill-health, and playing only club cricket for Petone in Wellington.^[3]

References

1. "Alfred W. Cate". Evening Post. 23 October 1939. p. 3.
2. Don Neely & Richard Payne, Men in White: The History of New Zealand International Cricket, 1894–1985, Moa, Auckland, 1986, p. 63.
3. Cobcroft, L. T. (5 December 1925). "Three Notables". New Zealand Truth. No. 1045. p. 11.

External links

• Alf Cate at ESPNcricinfo