Bruce Pairaudeau, the former West Indies and Northern Districts batter has died aged 91.
Born in British Guiana in 1931, Pairaudeau, an accomplished opening batsman. Made his debut for that country when he was 15, and scored his maiden century the following season when he was 16 years and 5 months.
His career with the West Indies began in style, when he scored 115 runs against India in Trinidad in 1953.
Pairaudeau played 13 Tests for West Indies between 1953 and 1957 alongside Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Alf Valentine.
He was 26 when he made his final appearance for the West Indies during the tour of England in 1957.
He finished with an overall 454 runs in 13 Test matches at an average of 21.61.
After emigrating to New Zealand, he captained Northern Districts to their first Plunket Shield title in 1962-63 before retiring from domestic cricket in 1966-67.
More recently in 2015, Pairaudeau and his friend drove from Hamilton to Napier to watch the visiting West Indies team train.
“We heard a West Indian voice and when I looked at who it was, I thought it might be Bruce Pairaudeau. We knew he lived in New Zealand but we didn’t know he was coming over,” Philip Spooner, West Indies’ media manager, told Media at the time “All the guys just loved meeting him.”