He first made an impact on the cricket world in the summer of 1946-47 when he scored 197 and 128 for Otago against MCC and for the next 20 years, batting records and achievements followed him around. Among the peerless performances was 385 for Otago against Canterbury in 1952-53 that remains the highest score by a New Zealander. Sutcliffe, as an opener or middle-order batsman, played in 42 test matches between 1949 and 1965 for 2727 runs at an average of 40.10 and in his overall first-class career he scored 17,447 runs for an average of 47.41 and scored 44 centuries. He became a national hero in 1953-54 in South Africa when he resumed batting after being treated in hospital for a blow on the side of the head. He also captained New Zealand and one of the great ironies of his career was that he was never in a test-winning side. Return to the Inductee list