Donnelly remains one of the greatest batsmen New Zealand has produced and was considered among the world’s great left-handers. He made his first-class debut at the age of 19 and scored 1414 runs on New Zealand’s 1937 tour of England. It was after World War II, when he was studying at Oxford, that Donnelly established his reputation. He scored 133 for the Dominions against England at Lord’s in a victory test match and two years later scored 163 for Gentlemen against the Players, also at Lord’s. The zenith of his career was on the 1949 New Zealand tour of England when he headed the batting with 2287 runs, including five centuries. In the tests, he made 462 runs, passing 50 in five of his six innings. In the second test at Lord’s, he scored 206, still the highest score by a New Zealander against England. Apart from Oxford, Donnelly also played county cricket for Warwickshire and Middlesex. Donnelly was also a first five-eighth or centre at rugby, and played for England against Ireland in 1947. Return to the Inductee list