Murphy Su'a

Murphy Logo Su'a (born 7 November 1966) is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played 13 Test matches and 12 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He was the first Samoan-born cricketer to play Test cricket for New Zealand.

Murphy Su'a

Personal information
Full name	Murphy Logo Su'a
Born	(1966-11-07) 7 November 1966 (age 57) Whanganui
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Left-arm fast-medium
International information
National side	New Zealand (1992–1995)
Test debut (cap 176)	30 January 1992 v England
Last Test	18 March 1995 v Sri Lanka
ODI debut (cap 77)	12 February 1992 v England
Last ODI	26 March 1995 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1988/89–1989/90	Northern Districts
1990/91–1995/96	Auckland
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 13 12 51 36 Runs scored 165 24 828 252 Batting average 12.69 4.79 18.40 12.60 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/2 0/0 Top score 44 12* 56 33* Balls bowled 2,843 463 4,794 1,212 Wickets 36 9 141 43 Bowling average 38.25 40.77 34.00 28.18 5 wickets in innings 2 0 7 2 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 5/73 4/59 6/56 6/26 Catches/stumpings 8/– 1/– 12/– 8/–
Source: Cricinfo, 4 May 2017

Murphy Su'a played for the Auckland Cricket Association from 1990 to 1996 and represented New Zealand in that period, including being a member of the 1992 World Cup squad. He played his senior club cricket for Eden Roskill after playing in many junior age group sides in the Northern Districts area.^{[citation needed]} Since retiring as a player, he worked as the Samoa national cricket team coach.^[1]

International career

Murphy Su'a made his international debut on 30 January 1992 in the second Test of the three-match series against England at Eden Park as he took three wickets.^[2] In the process he became the first player with Pacific Island descent to play for New Zealand.^[3] Nine day later, he went on to make his One Day International debut against the same team at Carisbrook.^[4]

After being selected for the 1992 Cricket World Cup and not receiving a single game,^[5] his next international appearance was in the Zimbabwe series where in the second test played at the Harare Sports Club, he recorded his first five-wicket haul in the first innings as he helped New Zealand win by 177 runs.^[6] After taking only five wickets in the series against Sri Lanka, he recorded his best Test figures of 5–73 against Pakistan in the only Test match of that series.^[7]

The 1993 series against Australia saw Su'a score his highest test score of 44 in the second innings but not before avoiding being run-out due to the third-umpire as he was comfortably home.^[8][9] In November of that year, he would only go on to play two Tests of a three-match series in Australia where he took three wickets.^[10]

In late 1994, Su'a was selected to play in the Mandela Trophy where he would play in five matches throughout the tournament, taking five wickets at an average of 30 with his best figures of 4/59 being against South Africa on 11 December 1994.^[11][12]

References

1. "The Shame Game: Talented Polynesian players left behind". NZ Herald. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
2. "2nd Test, England tour of New Zealand at Auckland, Jan 30 – Feb 3 1992". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
3. "The Shame Game: Talented Polynesian players left behind". The New Zealand Herald. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
4. "2nd ODI, England tour of New Zealand at Dunedin, Feb 12 1992". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
5. Wilkins, Phil (22 February 1992). "When only the best will win". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 72.
6. "2nd Test, New Zealand tour of Zimbabwe at Harare, Nov 7-12 1992". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
7. "Only Test, Pakistan tour of New Zealand at Hamilton, Jan 2-5 1993". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
8. Smithers, Patrick (1 March 1993). "Warne's leg-spin a shock to the Kiwis". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 34.
9. "1st Test, Australia tour of New Zealand at Christchurch, Feb 25-28 1993". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
10. "Statsguru - ML Su'a - Tests - Bowling series averages". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
11. "6th Match, Mandela Trophy at Centurion, Dec 11 1994". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
12. "Mandela Trophy in S.Africa Dec 1994/Jan 1995 – Leading Averages". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 May 2020.

External links

• Murphy Su'a at ESPNcricinfo