Ken Rutherford

Who is Ken Rutherford?

Kenneth Robert Rutherford, MNZM, is a former New Zealand cricketer who enjoyed a ten-year career with the national team, and was captain for a period in the 1990s.

He made his debut for Otago in 1982-83 at the age of 17, batting at number six. Opening the batting in 1984-85 he scored 442 runs at 44.20, including his first century, 130 against Auckland, and he was asked to open the batting for New Zealand in the West Indies at a time when West Indies were at the height of their powers. His first seven scores in Tests were 0, 0, 4, 0, 2, 1 and 5.

He was not selected for the tour of Australia in 1985-86, but after scoring 638 runs at 53.16 with three centuries in the Shell Trophy he returned to the Test team when Australia toured New Zealand early in 1986, this time in the middle order, scoring two fifties in the three Tests.

Rutherford was more or less a steady feature of the side after his return. He had a habit of not converting fifties into centuries in Test cricket – he clearly had the ability to do so, as shown by his 35 first-class centuries.