Neely spent 14 years as a selector for the NZ men’s team and wrote more than 30 books about the sport.
www.stuff.co.nz
Very sad to hear of the passing of the great Don Neely, former NZ Chairman of Selectors and a true champion of the game in New Zealand. Don was actually my godfather. He played cricket with and against my father in Wellington for years and they subsequently flatted together while student teachers in and around the area.
Don was just a wonderful person with a wicked sense of humor. During my teenage years, his Christmas present to me would always be a special preview copy of his latest DB Annual. Our running joke would be that I would inevitably find numerous typos in the book, which Don would light-heartedly dismiss as being 'deliberately planted' to make sure I actually read the entire thing.
I have many fond memories of dinners at the Neely's, where Don would regale us all with stories about players past and present. And from time to time, some of those players would pop in for a feed. And, if we were lucky, do some throwdowns with us kids (the Neely's have two sons, both of whom are a little older than me) in the makeshift cricket net that sat out in the small plot of grass in their backyard.
Jeff Crowe was a particular favourite, always friendly and happy to have a hit. As was the Praying Mantis, Jeremy Coney. Don's lovely wife, Paddianne, is Dave Crowe's cousin, so both Crowe's would often be at their house.
And there are more great memories of countless days watching the cricket with Don at the Basin Reserve when he was Chairman of Selectors, knowing that everyone was looking sideways at this legend as he dutifully studied the form of the players. It shouldn't be forgotten that he presided over a golden era of cricket in New Zealand where, despite being minnows of the game, we went undefeated at home for near on a decade.
Don pulled strings when I was a 16-year-old visiting from Sydney, where I was living, and got me into the Kilbirnie Senior team for a game against the very strong Wellington Schoolboys side of the time. I bowled mediocre legspin and got hit into oblivion by a young Selwyn Blackmore before facing the music against the devastating speed of Heath Davis. Damn, he was quick! Wicketkeeper Simon Mannix caught me out for a trivial amount. I was hopelessly out of my depth, but it was a lot of fun.
The last few years of Don's life were tough. So I'm sure there's some relief from those closest to him that he's out of misery. But he will be greatly missed. One of New Zealand finest. Vale Don.
