| Iain Gallaway | |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Fullname: | Iain Watson Gallaway |
| Birth Date: | 26 December 1922 |
| Birth Place: | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Death Place: | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Batting: | Right-handed |
| Role: | Wicket-keeper |
| Club1: | Otago |
| Hidedeliveries: | true |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 3 |
| Runs1: | 26 |
| Bat Avg1: | 8.66 |
| 100S/50S1: | 0/0 |
| Top Score1: | 22 |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 7/1 |
| Date: | 31 January |
| Year: | 2011 |
| Source: | https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/21/21926/21926.html CricketArchive |
Iain Watson Gallaway (26 December 192218 April 2021) was a New Zealand broadcaster, lawyer and cricketer. He was a commentator on the radio station Radio Sport, and a first-class cricketer. Between January 2021 and his death, Gallaway was New Zealand's oldest living first-class cricketer.
Gallaway was born in Dunedin, Otago, on 26 December 1922.[1] He attended Christ's College, Christchurch, and the University of Otago. His first job was as a cadet reporter for the Otago Daily Times.[2]
Gallaway served in the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II, patrolling the Atlantic and the North Sea on a D-class cruiser.[3] After his stint in the navy, he studied law at the University of New Zealand in Dunedin[4] and worked as a lawyer in the Dunedin firm that is now Gallaway Cook Allan.[5] He went on to become an officer of the Otago Law Society and the New Zealand Law Society.[2]
Gallaway played three first-class cricket matches for Otago between 1946 and 1948 as a right-handed lower-order batsman and wicketkeeper.[1] [6] In his first match against Wellington he took six catches.[7] He also acted as an international rugby referee, officiating a Southland match against Australia in 1949, and West Coast against the British Lions the following year.[8]
In a radio commentary career that extended from 1953 to 1992, Gallaway broadcast about 500 rugby matches and numerous cricket matches, mostly from the Carisbrook ground in Dunedin.[9] [10] He also accompanied the New Zealand Test cricket team to Pakistan and India in 1955–56 – the first time a broadcaster had toured with a New Zealand Test team – as well as serving as the sole New Zealand Press Association correspondent on the tour.[11]
Gallaway retired from broadcasting after the 1992 Cricket World Cup, concerned that his declining eyesight would cause him to make incorrect calls.[8] The final match he broadcast was New Zealand's victory over India in the round-robin stage.[7] Gallaway's book Not a Cloud in the Sky: The Autobiography of Iain Gallaway was published five years later in 1997.[12] He was the official patron of the Otago Cricket Association until his death.[2]
Gallaway was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1978 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to rugby and cricket. In the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service, specifically for his work as chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin over a quarter of a century.[2] He received a Halberg Award for services to sport in 1999.[7] [13] Gallaway was awarded life membership of New Zealand Cricket in 2010.[14]
Upon the death of Alan Burgess on 6 January 2021, Gallaway became the oldest living New Zealand first-class cricketer.[15] When Gallaway died, that honour passed to Peter Arnold.[16]
Gallaway was married to his wife, Virginia, until her death. Together, they had four children, Sarah, Annie, Garth, and Alice.[17] Garth has worked as a cricket commentator on Radio Sport and as a lawyer in Christchurch, and is Chair of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.[18]
Gallaway died on 18 April 2021, at the age of 98.[19]