The Sutcliffes were in Dunedin yesterday to attend the book launch of The Last Everyday Hero: the Bert Sutcliffe Story, by Richard Boock, and for the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the University Oval.
Gary Sutcliffe told the Otago Daily Times his father, who died in 2001 aged 77, was, in many ways, just an ordinary bloke. The rest of us know better, of course. He was the great left-hander whose deeds on the cricket field amazed and touched the hearts of many.
"To us he was Dad," Gary said.
"He was a family man and family came first, cricket second. But cricket did take up so much of his life."
Gary has fond memories of his father making a toboggan for the "kids to scream around in", and the family card nights and trips to the beach.
"Dad loved having all the family around. When he wrote about what he would like to continue in life once he'd gone, he said please stay together as a family and keep meeting on a Tuesday afternoon to play cards."
Sutcliffe played many fabulous innings during a wonderful career. Otago cricket fans will recall his back-to-back centuries in his first outing for the province, against the mighty MCC no less.
But he is perhaps most fondly remembered for his courageous partnership with Bob Blair against South Africa at Ellis Park in December 1953.
The forlorn and grief-stricken Blair joined Sutcliffe at the wicket not long after discovering his fiancee had been killed in the Tangiwai railway disaster.
Earlier in the match, Sutcliffe had been struck by a bouncer from South African fast bowler Neil Adcock and retired hurt. But this was not a day to sit in the sheds. He returned, heavily bandaged and with blood oozing from the wound, to launch a glorious counterattack.
Their partnership and courage left an indelible impression on the psyche of a nation. While the match and series was lost, the team won the country's admiration.
"He, more than any other individual, helped put New Zealand cricket on the map," Boock wrote in his account of Sutcliffe's life.
Boock, who worked at the ODT as a sports reporter from 1988-98, took on the task of completing the biography two years ago. Dunedin author Rod Nye had almost completed the research and was about to begin writing when he died in 2004 after battling a brain illness, aged 54.
Yesterday's launch was an emotional day for Nye's widow, Vivienne Nye.
"Emotionally, it was not easy for me," Nye told the audience..
"Losing him left me in limbo but I was always aware I wanted to see his efforts completed and published."
Sutcliffe played 60 games for Otago and scored 6028 runs at an average of 59.09, including 17 centuries. He remains Otago's leading run-scorer and is widely considered the best player to have represented the province.
• Giveaway
The Otago Daily Times has three copies of the Bert Sutcliffe book to give away, courtesy of publisher Random House. To be in the draw, email the sports department (sport@odt.co.nz) your name and a daytime phone number. Entries must arrive by Monday at noon. Winners will then be notified.
