William Alexander Priest (18 March 1909 – 8 December 1972), also known as Alec Priest, was a New Zealand doctor and cricketer. He played two first-class matches in the Plunket Shield for Otago in the early 1930s and played in the Hawke Cup for Taranaki and Wanganui.Alec Priest, CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 April 2022. Professionally he was a specialist in the treatment of tuberculosis who worked in a number of New Zealand hospitals and conducted research on a travelling scholarship in the 1950s.
Early life Priest was born at Dunedin in 1909. He was educated at Musselburgh and at Otago Boys' High School where he played a variety of sports.McCarron T (2010) New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 108. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. (Available online. Retrieved 8 June 2022.)School vacations, The Evening Star, issue 17537, 17 December 1920, p. 6. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.School vacations, The Evening Star, issue 17849, 21 December 1921, p. 2. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.The Blakely Family, The Evening Star, issue 23486, 29 January 1940, p. 9. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. He captained the Otago schools representative cricket team whilst at school, playing alongside Vern Leader, Don Cameron and Vic Cavenagh, all of whom went on to play for Otago in representative cricket.Personalities in Sport, The Evening Star, issue 21303, 6 January 1933, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.
After leaving school Priest went up to the University of Otago in Dunedin. He graduated with a medical degree in 1934, initially working at Dunedin Hospital.University Year, Otago Daily Times, issue 22263, 16 May 1934, p. 7. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.Medical Registration, Otago Daily Times, issue 22174, 30 January 1934, p. 9. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. Whilst he was a student Priest enlisted in the Otago Regiment and was appointed as a second lieutenant with the Otago University Medical Company in 1932;Naval and Military Notes, Otago Daily Times, issue 21828, 15 December 1932, p. 14. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. during World War II he volunteered for overseas serviceEnlistments, The Evening Star, issue 23588, 29 May 1940, p. 6. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. and served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force.Officer Appointed, Wanganui Chronicle, vol. 87, issue 298, 17 December 1943, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.
Cricket With a good reputation as a school cricketer, Priest played club cricket for Carisbrook Cricket Club in Dunedin. He was a batsman who immediately made a "good impression" with the team in 1929.Cricket, Otago Daily Times, issue 20624, 24 January 1929, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. The Evening Star described him as "a most promising young batsman", saying that "he kept the ball down, punished the loose stuff, and made a good job of any ball that asked to be driven to the off boundary",Cricket, The Evening Star, issue 20083, 25 January 1929, p. 12. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. whilst the Otago Daily Times reported that his "driving and square cutting were always well timed" and predicted that he would become a "very valuable" member of the team. Later in the same year the paper described him as a "stylish batsman", albeit one who had made a run of scores all in the 30s.Cricket, Otago Daily Times, issue 20672, 21 March 1929, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.
By the start of the 1931–32 season he had moved from Carisbrook to play for the Dunedin University team, playing in its first season in the senior competition,Manager resigns, The Star, vol. XLIV, issue 303, 22 December 1931, p. 8. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.Cricket season reviewed, The Evening Star, issue 21066, 1 April 1932, p. 5. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. by which time The Star, a Christchurch newspaper, was describing him as a "well-known" cricketerCricket in Dunedin, The Star, vol. XLIV, issue 240, 9 October 1931, p. 11. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. with "sound batting knowledge" who had "for so long been a consistent batsman".Christmas Cricket, The Star, vol. XLIV, issue 305, 24 December 1931, p. 6. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. In December, after showing "good form", he was selected for the Otago squad for the Plunket Shield matches against Canterbury and Auckland.Plunket Shield, The Evening Post, vol. CXII, issue 137, 7 December 1931, p. 10. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. The Star described him as "a solid and consistent batsman who has shown improved form since he went from Carisbrook to the University eleven. Last season he put together some useful scores for Carisbrook, and this season has scored 161 runs with an average of 40.25. He has a good range of scoring shots, being especially strong on the off-drive", although the paper thought that he may be the Otago twelfth man for the Shield match against Canterbury.
Otago cricketer In the event, Priest did make his first-class cricket debut for Otago in the match against Canterbury which started on Christmas Day 1931. He was "clean bowled" for a duck in his first innings as Otago were bowled out for 161 runs.Plunket Shield, Otago Daily Times, issue 21527, 26 December 1931, p. 8. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. In its second innings, the Otago team scored 589 in what was described as "one of the greatest batting recoveries ever known in New Zealand cricket",Plunket Shield Sensation, The Evening Star, issue 20987, 29 December 1931, p. 11. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.Plunket Shield, The Evening Star, issue 20987, 29 December 1931, p. 10. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. an innings which saw a Plunket Shield record score of 338 not out by Roger Blunt. Priest, however, recorded a pair, being caught without scoring,Big Cricket, Waikato Times, vol. 110, issue 18520, 28 December 1931, p. 8. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. and was twelfth man for the team's following Shield match against AucklandPlunket Shield Game, Auckland Star, vol. LXII, issue 309, 31 December 1931, p. 11. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. and not included in the squad for the team's final representative match of the season against Wellington,Cricket, The Evening Star, issue 21025, 12 February 1932, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. although the Otago Daily Times''' cricket correspondent reported that he had been "unlucky" against Canterbury.Cricket, Otago Daily Times, issue 21536, 7 January 1932, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.
Priest continued to impress in local cricket at the start of the 1932–33 season, The Evening Star describing him as "a solid batsman possessed of some nice clean strokes" and praising his play to the on-side.Cricket, The Evening Star, issue 21269, 25 November 1932, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. He played for an Otago team against one from North Otago in early December, and after batting well at the start of the season he was selected again for the Otago representative team for the Plunket Shield match against Wellington over the Christmas period, replacing the captain George Dickinson.Plunket Shield Cricket, The Evening Star, issue 21282, 10 December 1932, p. 11. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.Otago's Shield Team, The Star, vol. XLIV, issue 633, 10 December 1932, p. 10. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. He scored six runs in the match, making two in Otago's first innings and four in their second, although he injured his eye after colliding with Alex Knight whilst fielding and dropped down to twelfth man in the team's following match.Cricket, Otago Daily Times, issue 21840, 30 December 1932, p. 8. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. He did not play in Otago's other Shield match of the season as the team won the trophy for the second time.The Plunket Shield, Otago Daily Times, issue 21872, 7 February 1933, p. 5. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. He did, however, play for the Otago team which played Southland in April 1933,Otago Eleven v. Southland, Otago Daily Times, issue 21919, 3 April 1933, p. 8. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. and in October was in an Otago Selectors XI to play a team of young players.Cricket, The Evening Star, issue 21546, 19 October 1933, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.
Taranaki and later career In October 1934 Priest announced that he would only be able to play for University until the Christmas period, after which he would be moving to New Plymouth on New Zealand's North Island.Topical Tattle, The Evening Star, issue 21846, 9 October 1934, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. He subsequently played for Taranaki, captaining the team against a touring English team in early 1936.English Team's Tour, Otago Daily Times, issue 22790, 28 January 1936, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. When he returned to the Otago area he played for Maniototo, captaining the team in 1940 against an Otago XI,Maniototo cricketers, The Evening Star, issue 23481, 23 January 1940, p. 8. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. and then became a key figure in cricket in Wanganui when he moved there in the 1940s, captaining the team in 1945–46 and 1948–49.Cricket Season, Wanganui Chronicle, vol. 89, issue 244, 16 October 1945, p. 7. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.Wanganui's post-war cricket season, Wanganui Chronicle, 18 October 1946, p. 8. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022.Comment and criticism on Wanganui cricket, Wanganui Chronicle, 3 November 1949, p. 6. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. He played for Taranaki against Wanganui in the Hawke Cup in 1935–36 and for Wanganui against Taranaki in the competition in 1945–46.
Although he was considered to have been "past his best form" when he played for Wanganui, Priest still made good scores in a number of innings, and was elected President of the association in 1950.Personals, Wanganui Chronicle, 7 September 1950, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. He was active in promoting and coaching cricket in Wanganui and the cricket pavilion at Victoria Park, Wanganui's home ground, is named after him.Sarjeant Happenings: In memoriam – a gift of art, Whanganui Chronicle, 23 March 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
Professional career After initially working at the Dunedin Hospital, in 1934 Priest was appointed to work at New Plymouth Hospital, leaving Otago at Christmas.Personal, Otago Daily Times, issue 22448, 18 December 1934, p. 10. Retrieved via Papers Past, 30 April 2022. He remained at New Plymouth for two years and later worked for a year at Cashmere Sanatorium near Christchurch, before moving to Central Otago to work in a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients at Waipiata which had been opened in 1923.In sympathy with the isolated: The TB sanatorium in the back of beyond, Newsroom, 18 September 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2022. After serving during World War II in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, he was appointed to Wanganui hospital as a chest specialist, initially serving as the tuberculosis officer at the hospital.