| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Nelson Vorrath | ||||||||||||||
| Born | (1904-10-21)21 October 1904 Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 7 June 1934(1934-06-07) (aged 29) Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
| 1927/28–1929/30 | Otago | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Source: CricketArchive, 5 March 2017 | |||||||||||||||
William Nelson Vorrath (21 October 1904 – 7 June 1934) was a New Zealand sportsman. Vorrath played six first-class cricket matches for Otago between the 1927–28 and 1929–30 seasons and represented Otago at rugby league.
Vorrath was born at Dunedin in 1904 into a sporting family. His father had played cricket in Australia, one of his brothers was a jockey and another represented the Otago Rugby Football Union, whilst his sister played lawn tennis. William played club cricket for the Albion Cricket Club in Dunedin, captaining the club for four seasons.
Five of Vorrath's six first-class appearances were made during the 1927–28 season when he played in all of Otago's representative matches. He made his debut against Canterbury in December 1927, opening the batting and making scores of 11 and five. A series of low scores resulted in him dropping down the batting order and it was not until the side's final Plunket Shield match of the season that Vorrath made a significant score, making 103 not out batting at number eight against Wellington towards the end of January, an innings which was called "memorable" in an obituary. This was his only first-class century.
After playing against the touring Australians towards the end of the season, Vorrath made only one further appearance for Otago, opening the batting again in a December 1929 match against Auckland. As well as cricket, Vorrath was a notable rugby player. He played rugby union for the Union club in Dunedin before switching codes to play rugby league. He represented Otago and South Island in the code. He played in trials matches for the New Zealand national team and narrowly missed out on selection for the 1926–27 tour of Great Britain. Illness forced his retirement from the sport.
Professionally Vorrath was a plasterer and worked at the Waitaki Hydro Works in 1933, playing some cricket for North Otago before returning to Dunedin. He died at Dunedin Hospital after a week spent as an in-patient. He was aged 29.
References
- ^ "William Vorrath". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ^ McCarron A (2010) New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. ISBN 978 1 905138 98 2 (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.)
- ^ Mr William Vorrath, Southland Times, issue 22345, 9 June 1934, p. 9. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 8 February 2024.)
- ^ Vorrath, Mr W, Obituaries in 1934, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1935. (Available online at CricInfo. Retrieved 8 February 2024.)
- ^ William Vorrath, CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 February 2024. (subscription required)
- "Otago v Wellington 1927-28". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "Mr. W. Vorrath". Press. LXX (21187): 19. 11 June 1934. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- Obituary: Mr W Vorrath, Otago Daily Times, issue 22284, 9 June 1934, p. 11. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 8 February 2024.)