| Oscar Haskell | |
| Fullname: | Oscar Hungerford Haskell |
| Birth Date: | 24 April 1857 |
| Birth Place: | Brighton, Colony of Tasmania |
| Death Place: | Southport, Queensland, Australia |
| Batting: | Left-handed |
| Club1: | Otago |
| Date: | 13 May |
| Year: | 2016 |
| Source: | http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37343.html ESPNcricinfo |
Oscar Hungerford "Jim" Haskell (24 April 1857 - 3 September 1943) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played six first-class matches for Otago between the 1877–78 and 1889–90 seasons.[1] [2]
Haskell was born at Brighton in the newly founded Colony of Tasmania in 1857.[3] His father, Thomas Henry Haskell, had been born in England in 1819 and was a senior legal clerk in what was then called Van Dieman's Land, having originally moved to Hobart with his parents in the early 1820s.[4] [5]
As a cricketer, Haskell was well-known in Otago and was considered "one of the best Otago cricketers of his day".[4] He played in a side of 22 for Otago against the touring Australians in January 1878,[6] before making his first-class debut later in the season, playing against Canterbury in Dunedin. At the time Otago typically played just one match that has been given first-class status in each season, usually with Canterbury as the opposition, and Haskell played for the representative side in each of the next four seasons.[7] At this time he was considered a household name in Otago and as "among the votaries of the game.[8] He and William Crawshaw were considered "a brilliant pair of batsmen and fieldsmen",[8] Haskell often fielding as long stop.[9]
By the time of his final first-class match, a fixture against Auckland during the 1889–90 season,[7] Haskell was being described in the Dunedin press as "the old popular favourite".[10] In his six first-class matches he scored 78 runs with a highest score of 34 made in 1881–82. He also took three wickets.[7]
Haskell died 1943 at Southport in Queensland, Australia. He was aged 86.[1]