National side New Zealand Position Forward | Role Cricket Player Name Ces Dacre | |
 | ||
Batting style Right-hand middle order batsman Died November 2, 1975, Devonport, New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand | ||
Bowling style Left-arm orthodox spin | ||
Charles Christian Ralph Dacre, more commonly known as Ces Dacre, was a cricket player from New Zealand who also represented New Zealand in football (soccer). He was born 15 May 1899 in Devonport, Auckland and died there on 2 November 1975. He played in the Auckland and Gloucestershire teams and was in New Zealand's first team to go to England in 1927, though no Tests were played on the tour.
Contents
Rugby career
Dacre played rugby union in the War years for the Railway club (a wartime combination of the Marist and City clubs). In 1917 he was involved in a breakaway movement from the club that switched to rugby league, playing matches against Ponsonby United and the City Rovers. Railway XIII merged with Grafton Athletic for the 1918 Auckland Rugby League season, though it is unknown if Dacre was still with the club.
Cricket career
Dacre was a hard-hitting, somewhat impetuous, right-handed middle order batsman and an occasional slow left-arm bowler, who also kept wicket a few times in a first-class career that spanned more than 20 years. An outstanding schoolboy cricketer, he made his debut for Auckland when only 15 and appeared regularly for the team until the 1927–28 season, and then again in two matches in 1932–33.
He toured Australia twice and England once with New Zealand cricket teams in the period before New Zealand played Tests. In 1927, in a strong batting side, he was a success with 1,070 runs at an average of 31.47 in the first-class matches. Though he returned to New Zealand the following winter, in 1928 he was back in England where he spent two years playing occasional cricket before becoming qualified for County Championship matches for Gloucestershire.
Winning a regular place as soon as he was qualified in 1930, he made more than 1,000 runs in each of the next six seasons, though his average declined steadily over the period. His best season was 1930, and he hit his highest score, 223, with five sixes and 25 fours, in 255 minutes against Worcestershire in that season. By 1935, he was averaging no more than 21 runs an innings and when his form declined further in 1936 his contract was terminated by mutual agreement.
Football biography
Dacre also represented New Zealand in football, appearing in 4 A-Internationals in 1922 and 1923. scoring 2 goals. Dacre was also a member of the North Shore side who reached the 1926 Chatham Cup final, losing 4-2 to Sunnyside.