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Murray Hofmeyr

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Murray Hofmeyr
Personal information
Full name
Murray Bernard Hofmeyr
Born(1925-12-09)9 December 1925
Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa
Died17 May 2018(2018-05-17) (aged 92)
Knysna, South Africa
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleOpening batsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1949–1951Oxford University
1951/52–1953/54North Eastern Transvaal
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 44
Runs scored 3,178
Batting average 44.76
100s/50s 7/19
Top score 161
Balls bowled 23
Wickets 1
Bowling average 11.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/0
Catches/stumpings 29/–
Source: CricketArchive, 16 November 2022

Murray Bernard Hofmeyr (9 December 1925 – 17 May 2018) was a South African sportsman who played international rugby union for England and first-class cricket in both England and South Africa.

After growing up in South Africa and attending Pretoria Boys High School,[1] Hofmeyr moved to England in 1948 as a Rhodes Scholar at Worcester College, Oxford. He represented Oxford University in both cricket and rugby union. From 1949 to 1951, Hofmeyr, an opening batsman, made 35 first-class appearances for the university and scored 2495 runs.

In the 1949 Varsity Match, Hofmeyr ‘played a dogged and courageous innings and carried his bat’—the first player from Oxford University to have done so in an intervarsity for sixty-eight years. He scored an unbeaten 64 (out of 169) and 54 in the unexpected defeat.[2] He had his most prolific year in 1950 when he scored 1063 runs at 55.94 and brought up four centuries.[3] His highest score, 161, came against Gloucestershire, in an innings where the next highest score was his opening partner Brian Boobbyer's 28.[4] Boobbyer would also partner Hofmeyr in the England rugby union team.

Playing as a full-back, Hofmeyr appeared in three of England's four Tests in the 1950 Five Nations Championship, against Wales, France and Scotland.[5] He played his club rugby for Harlequins and also represented the Barbarians.[6]

He captained the Oxford University Cricket Club in the 1951 season and then returned to South Africa. In the 1951/52 and 1952/53 Currie Cup competition, Hofmeyr was captain of North Eastern Transvaal and played a total of nine first-class matches, from which he made 683 runs at 48.78.[7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Pretoria Boys High Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  2. ^ Cricket and society in South Africa, 1910-1971 : from union to isolation. Murray, Bruce K., Parry, Richard, 1956-, Winch, Jonty. Cham, Switzerland. September 2018. ISBN 978-3-319-93608-6. OCLC 1050448400.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Murray Hofmeyr". CricketArchive.
  4. ^ "Oxford University v Gloucestershire". CricketArchive.
  5. ^ "Murray Hofmeyer". ESPN Scrum.
  6. ^ "Murray Hofmeyr - Other Sports". CricketArchive.
  7. ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Murray Hofmeyr". CricketArchive.