| Hugh Lusk | |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Fullname: | Hugh Butler Lusk |
| Birth Date: | 12 January 1866 |
| Birth Place: | Mangonui, Northland, New Zealand |
| Death Place: | Napier, New Zealand |
| Batting: | Right-handed |
| Family: | Hugh Lusk (father) Harold Lusk (brother) William Lee Rees (father-in-law) |
| Club1: | Auckland |
| Year1: | 1889-90 |
| Club2: | Hawke's Bay |
| Year2: | 1891-92 to 1908-09 |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 38 |
| Runs1: | 1688 |
| Bat Avg1: | 25.19 |
| 100S/50S1: | 3/8 |
| Top Score1: | 120 |
| Deliveries1: | 2519 |
| Wickets1: | 51 |
| Bowl Avg1: | 21.80 |
| Fivefor1: | 2 |
| Tenfor1: | 1 |
| Best Bowling1: | 7/53 |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 14/0 |
| Date: | 3 October |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Source: | https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/16/16362/16362.html Cricket Archive |
Hugh Butler Lusk (12 January 1866 – 26 February 1944) was a New Zealand cricketer and lawyer.
After attending Auckland Grammar School, Lusk studied law. He was admitted to the Bar in 1890.[1]
Lusk married Bessie Rees, a daughter of William Lee Rees and a niece of W. G. Grace, in Auckland in March 1891.[2] [3] [4] He became Crown Solicitor for Hawke's Bay in 1902, succeeding another cricketer, Arthur Cotterill.[5] He retained the position until his death.[6] He practised law in Napier for more than 50 years and was a member of the council of the New Zealand Law Society for 30 years.[7]
Lusk made his first-class cricket debut for Auckland in 1889-90, playing five matches as a middle-order batsman and opening bowler. He had little success with the bat, but took eight wickets in two matches against the touring New South Wales team, including figures of 5 for 35 in the first match.[8]
He moved to Napier, and began playing for Hawke's Bay in 1891-92. In his first match he top-scored with 62 in an innings victory over Taranaki.[9] He was selected for North Island against New South Wales in 1893-94, second-top-scoring in each innings with 39 and 21. Now captaining Hawke's Bay, he played a leading part in the match against Wellington in 1895-96, making 14 and 41 and taking 4 for 18 and 7 for 53.[10]
He made his debut for New Zealand in 1896-97, making 59 and 23 in a victory over Queensland.[11] He was the only Hawke's Bay player to represent New Zealand during Hawke's Bay's period as a first-class side (1884 to 1921).[12] With 250 runs at an average of 31.25, he was the highest-scoring New Zealand batsman of the season.[13]
In the first match the next season Lusk scored his and Hawke's Bay's first century, 119 in a loss to Canterbury.[14] It was the highest score of the season, and again he topped the national run tally, this time with 280 runs at 40.00.[15] He went on New Zealand's short tour of Australia in 1898-99, but had little success in the two first-class games. In 1900-01 he scored his second century, 120, when he led Hawke's Bay to an innings victory over Auckland.[16] He played for New Zealand against Lord Hawke's XI in 1902-03. He scored his third and final century against Wellington in 1907-08.[17]
Lusk played his last first-class match, still as captain of Hawke's Bay, in 1909, just before his 43rd birthday. In 28 first-class matches for Hawke's Bay he scored 1395 runs at 28.46.[18] He served as President of the New Zealand Cricket Council in the 1930s.[19]