Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Arthur Frank Rapley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Kaiapoi, New Zealand | 2 September 1937||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right-arm off-spin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relations | Fraser Sheat (grandson) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1957-58 to 1959-60 | Canterbury | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:
Cricinfo, 20 November 2018 |
Arthur Frank Rapley (born 2 September 1937) is a former New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Canterbury from 1958 to 1960.
An off-spin bowler and useful lower-order batsman, Rapley played his first match for Canterbury at the age of 20 in the last round of the Plunket Shield in 1957-58 and took four wickets (match figures of 35–15–60–4). [1] He was selected in the trial match for South Island a few days later and took two wickets cheaply. [2]
He took only eight wickets in five matches in 1958-59. [3] However, he made his highest first-class score of 40 in Canterbury's victory over Central Districts, when he and Graham Dowling added 85 for the last wicket, Dowling finishing on 103 not out. [4]
Rapley did not play in Canterbury's first four Plunket Shield matches in 1959-60 but, restored to the team for their final match, he was the leading bowler in Canterbury's victory over Northern Districts, taking 3 for 54 and 6 for 73 (match figures of 78.1–30–127–9). [5] This victory, achieved at the last possible moment of the match, gained Canterbury the Plunket Shield. [6] But it was Rapley's last first-class match. [7]
Rapley played for North Canterbury in the Hawke Cup from 1963 to 1983. [8] In all he played 65 matches for North Canterbury, taking 209 wickets. [9] In a two-day match for West Coast against Buller in 1960-61 he took 8 for 11 and 5 for 33. [10]
Rapley has spent most of his life in the North Canterbury region, where he was born. He was assistant town clerk for the Rangiora Borough Council in the 1970s, [11] and was one of the first trustees of the North Canterbury Sport & Recreation Trust after it was established in 1982. [12] He served as a justice of the peace in Rangiora until 2007. [13]
His grandson Fraser Sheat has played for Canterbury since the 2017-18 season. [14]