Harold Monaghan


Harold Wyatt Monaghan was a New Zealand first-class cricketer and a clergyman in the Anglican Church.

Cricket career

Monaghan made his first-class debut for Wellington in 1905-06, when in two matches he took 14 wickets at an average of 9.71, including 5 for 42 and 4 for 53 in his second match against Auckland, when he opened the bowling with Ernest Upham. He took 7 for 95 when Wellington played Melbourne Cricket Club later in the season, and was selected to play for New Zealand later in the same tour, but took only one wicket, that of Warwick Armstrong. Both matches were non-first-class. In March 1906 "Long Slip", the cricket writer of the Otago Witness, wrote: "Monaghan is now probably the best bowler in New Zealand, his swerve being a decided and puzzling one."
His 1906-07 season consisted of two matches for Wellington against the touring MCC. In the first match he took 7 for 50 in the first innings. He continued to play for Wellington until 1910-11.
He moved to Canterbury for the 1913-14 season, forming an opening-bowling partnership with George Wilson that enabled Canterbury to win all four of their Plunket Shield matches. Monaghan took 14 wickets at 17.92 in the Shield. In the match against Auckland he scored 46 and 39, taking part in two batting partnerships with Wilson of 83 and 59, as well as taking 2 for 46 and 3 for 73.
The former New Zealand captain Thomas Cobcroft thought that, apart from the Australian Tom McKibbin, Monaghan was the most difficult bowler he ever faced: "just as you had made your stroke to drive him, his ball would swing and drop suddenly. A great pity for New Zealand cricket that this promising bowler went out of the game so early." Monaghan was 27 when he played his last first-class match.

Clerical career and personal life

Monaghan was educated at Wellington College, where he was head prefect in 1904, and Victoria University, where he was awarded the degree of Master of Arts in 1910. He was a vicar at Richmond in Christchurch, in Pahiatua, and later Archdeacon of Timaru and of Rangitikei.
He wrote four books:
He and his wife Jessie had five children. Their sons David, also a cricketer, and Gerald died on active service in World War Two.