Alfred Maurice Hollings (13 May 1906 – 5 March 1988) was a New Zealand lawyer and cricketer. He played in seven first-class cricket matches for Wellington from 1926 to 1930.Alfred Hollings, CricInfo. Retrieved 24 October 2020Alfred Hollings, CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
Early life Hollings was born at Billericay in Essex, England on 13 May 1906 to Alfred William George Hollings and Mary Margaret Hollings.Alfred Hollings, My Heritage. Retrieved 16 April 2022.Alfred Hollings, Wisden online. Retrieved 16 April 2022.McCarron T (2010) New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 69. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. (Available online. Retrieved 8 June 2022.) He was educated at Wellington College in New Zealand, playing cricket at school,Wanganui v Wellington, The Evening Post, vol. CIV, issue 146, 18 December 1922, p. 8. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.College match, The Evening Post, vol. CIV, issue 148, 20 December 1922, p. 11. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022. before going up to Victoria University in Wellington. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in June 1928.Bachelors of Laws, The Spike or Victoria College Review, 1928. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
Cricket Whilst at university, Hollings played cricket for the Varsity club, Victoria University's team. He scored a century playing for the team's junior team against Auckland University in 1923–24Carrad JA, Wild HRC (1934) VUC cricket and its progress, The Spike or Victoria College Review, 1934, pp. 81–83. Retrieved 17 April 2022. and in December 1924 he took seven wickets for the juniors against the senior team and was considered worthy of a place in the senior team.At the Crease, The Evening Post, vol. CVIII, issue 154, 27 December 1924, p. 19. Retrieved via Papers Past 16 April 2022. By February 1925 he was receiving praise as the "best player in the junior grade" who had done "phenomenally well with bat and ball" and his name was suggested as one for the Wellington selector to consider.Cricket Jottings, New Zealand Times, vol. LII, issue 12069, 21 February 1925, p. 10. Retrieved via Papers Past 16 April 2022. By December he had been selected in a group of players to practice for the Wellington representative team, having showed good form in a match between Varsity and the Wellington club,Players and the Game, New Zealand Times, vol. LII, issue 12312, 5 December 1925, p. 17. Retrieved via Papers Past 16 April 2022. and it was suggested that he would "become one of Wellington's best all round cricketers".Cobcroft LT (1925) Watch Hollings, New Zealand Truth, issue 1046, 12 December 1925, p. 11. Retrieved via Papers Past 16 April 2022.
In January 1926 he played for a Wellington Colts team against a touring Auckland team, scoring 95 runs in a "stylish display",A first innings victory, New Zealand Times, vol, LIII, issue 12338, 7 January 1926, p. 7. Retrieved via Papers Past 16 April 2022. and by February the New Zealand Times was of the opinion that his selection for the Wellington team to play Auckland "should be assured", judging him "one of the finest all-rounders playing the game in Wellington this season".Cricket, New Zealand Times, vol. LIII, issue 12370, 13 February 1926, p. 17. Retrieved via Papers Past 16 April 2022. In April he played for Wellington against Nelson at the Basin Reserve, showing good batting form, scoring 69 runs in a Wellington total of 497.Wellington v Nelson, The Evening Post, vol. CXI, issue 80, 5 April 1926, p. 2. Retrieved via Papers Past 16 April 2022.Batsmen make merry, New Zealand Times, vol LIII, 5 April 1926, p. 9. Retrieved via Papers Past 16 April 2022.
A good display for a Wellington Colts team against the senior team at the start of the 1926–27 season,Bright cricket, New Zealand Times, vol. LIII, issue 12587, 26 October 1926, p. 3. Retrieved via Papers Past, 16 April 2022. followed by two centuries in November saw him described as "easily ahead of any other batsman in Wellington"At the Wickets, New Zealand Times, vol. LIII, issue 12605, 16 November 1926, p. 11. Retrieved via papers Past 16 April 2022. and as "one of the most promising bats in Wellington if not in New Zealand"Cricket, The Evening Post, vol. CXII, issue 117, 13 November 1926, p. 22. Retrieved via Papers Past, 16 April 2022. with the expectation that he would soon make his Wellington debut. A third century in early December, made in "tip-top style"At the Wickets, New Zealand Times, vol. LIII, issue 12623, 7 December 1926, p. 11. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022. and setting a Wellington provincial record as the first player to score centuries in three successive matches,Cricket, The Spike or Victoria College Review, 1927, pp. 58–64. Retrieved 17 April 2022. saw the Times cricket correspondent describe Hollings as "the best colt he has during the last few years" and suggest that he had a good chance of playing for the New Zealand national cricket team on their planned tour of England in 1927, and despite a "patchy" performance for Wellington Town against a Country Districts team later in the month he was selected for the representative team for the opening Plunket Shield match of the season―the first time a Varsity player had been selected for the team since before World War I.Sparkling Cricket, New Zealand Times, vol. LIII, issue 12635, 21 December 1926, p. 9. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.
Hollings played in all three of Wellington's matches in the 1926–27 Plunket Shield, making his debut on Christmas Day against Otago at the Basin Reserve. Despite a duck in his first innings, he scored 23 runs in the second, and, although he failed to take wicket, was described as a "useful change bowler" ahead of the team's match against Canterbury at Lancaster Park.Canterbury eleven to face Wellington, The Star, issue 18042, 30 December 1926, p. 9. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.Plunket Shield, Evening Star, issue 19444, 30 December 1926, p. 3. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022. A better batting performance which saw him scored 65 not out in a second Wellington victory of the season, saw him retained for a non-Shield match against Auckland in January, again scoring 65 not out.Bright Cricket, New Zealand Times, vol. LIV, issue 12649, 8 January 1927, p. 6. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.A drawn game, New Zealand Times, vol. LIV, issue 12651, 11 January 1927, p. 9. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.
Hollings played a total of seven first-class cricket matches for Wellington, five of which were in the Plunket Shield.First class matches played by Alfred Hollings, New Zealand Cricket Association. Retrieved 16 April 2022. After his four matches during the 1926–27 season he did not play again for the representative team until a match against the MCC touring team in December 1929, before featuring twice in Wellington's successful Plunket Shield campaign later in the 1929/30 season―he was reported as suffering from an illness during the 1927–28 season and was "unavailable" for the team in 1928–29.Cricket, The Evening Post, vol. CIV, issue 152, 24 December 1927, p. 22. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.The Cricket Critic, Auckland Sun, vol. II, issue 546, 26 December 1928, p. 7. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022. In February 1927 Hollings was in the Wellington team to play against the a touring Melbourne Cricket Club team.Miscellaneous matches played by Alfred Hollings, New Zealand Cricket Association. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
In Wellington senior club cricket Hollings was, in 1927, one of only five players who had scored three double centuries in a season in the previous almost 30 years.Dempsters Records, The Evening Post, 27 February 1928, p. 14 Earlier that year the Wellington Cricket Association had unsuccessfully nominated Hollings for the New Zealand team.NZ Cricket Team, Auckland Star, 18 January 1927, p. 9.
In 1933 Hollings was appointed Assistant Secretary for the Wellington Cricket Association.Cricket Season, The Evening Post, 3 October 1933, p. 9. During his cricketing career Hollings played at the local senior club level for Varsity (Victoria University) from 1925 to 1929, Wellington from 1929 to 1933, and Karori from 1934 until 1937 and continued to play matches for a variety of teams until at least 1940 as well as playing golf.Cricket: Veterans' match, The Evening Post, vol. CXXIX, issue 43, 20 February 1940, p. 16. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.Legal men at golf, The Evening Post, vol. CXXXII, issue 72, 22 September 1941, p. 9. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.
Legal career After graduating, Hollings qualified as a barrister and was admitted to the bar in 1929.Personal items, The Evening Post, vol. CVIII, issue 137, 6 December 1929, p. 13. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022. On 1 January 1930 TU Ronayne admitted Hollings into partnership and formed Ronayne and AM Hollings, a legal firm based in Wellington. Prior to this Hollings had been Ronayne's Managing Clerk.Legal notice, The Evening Post, vol. CIX, issue 10, 13 January 1930, p. 2. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.
The firm was dissolved in 1945 when Hollings acquired WP Coles' interest in the firm Phillips and Coles. With the acquisition the firm was renamed. In Petone it was known as Phillips, Coles, Hollings and Shayle-George, and in Wellington it was known as Phillips, Hollings and Shayle-George.Legal Notice, Hutt News, vol. 19, issue 14, 5 September 1945, p. 6. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.
Military service During World War II Hollings was involved with the organisation of the Emergency Protection Scheme on the home frontAn Appeal, Hutt News, vol. 15, issue 13, 27 August 1941, p. 5. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.E.P.S Lower Hutt, Hutt News, vol. 16, issue 12, 19 August 1942, p. 6. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022. before later serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. In October 1943 he was promoted from Aircraftman Class 1 and received a temporary commission as a Pilot Officer.Appointments of Officers of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, New Zealand Gazette, 13 January 1944, p. 9. Retrieved 16 April 2022. He served as an intelligence officer with No. 19 Squadron RNZAF in the Bougainville area until October 1944 when he was transferred to the Reserve of Air Force Officers and resumed his law practice.Appointments, Reduction, Transfers, and Relinquishments of Officers of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, New Zealand Gazette, 23 November 1944, p. 1429. Retrieved 16 April 2022.Public notices, The Evening Post, vol. CXXXVIII, issue 86, 9 October 1944, p. 4. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022.
Personal life Hollings married Lilian Etta May Gilbert in 1930.Marriage, Wanganui Chronicle, vol. 74, issue 2, 3 January 1931, p. 1. Retrieved via Papers Past, 17 April 2022. The couple had three children. He died on 5 March 1988 aged 81 and was buried at Paraparaumu, north of Wellington.Obituaries in 1988, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1989. Retrieved via CricInfo, 17 April 2022.
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