Robert Holloway

Robert Alexander Holloway (born 15 November 1940) is a New Zealand former cricketer. He played 15 first-class matches, including 14 for Otago in the Plunket Shield, during the 1960s as an opening batsman. A good club batsman who is considered to have not fulfilled his potential in representative cricket, Holloway also played for Southland in the Hawke Cup.

Early life Holloway was born at Invercargill in 1940 and was educated at Southland Boys' High School in the city. In his final two years at school, Holloway was a prefect and served as a sergeant in the school's cadet force. He won academic honours at school and was a member of several school sports teams, playing in the rugby union XV, cricket XI, and basketball team. A tall man, he played rugby as a flank forward and was described as a "rugged, fiery forward" who was the school's "main lineout forward".

As a cricketer, Holloway often played at school as an opening batsman. He played for the school's first XI for four years and in his final year he was described as "the most powerful batsman in the team". He was also a useful leg spin bowler―against Otago Boys' High School he took four wickets for 43 runs from 35 overs and was described as an "outstanding" bowler. As a batsman, he was "a player of great concentration and determination".

Senior cricket Holloway played in Otago's Brabin Shield team for three seasons from the 1958–59 season. A "courageous knock" against Canterbury's under-20 team at the end of 1958 was noted by The Press, and he "scored well", making 73 runs against the Wellington team, in the 1959–60 tournament. In early 1960 he was one of Southland's top scorers against Canterbury B, having first "saved the day" in a first-innings stand of 45 for the eighth-wicket. He played in the Hawke Cup for Southland at the beginning of December 1960 although he missed out on selection for a representative Brabin team in January 1961 due to injury.

In club cricket Holloway played for North East Valley Cricket Club in Dunedin. He and Bert Sutcliffe, who scored 125 not out, put on an unbroken first-wicket stand of 200 in a club match in October 1960, Holloway scoring 71 not out. He later played for Union Cricket Club in Invercargill and had a reputation as a "prolific" and consistent run scorer in club cricket.

With four of Otago's team touring South Africa with the New Zealand national team, Holloway was one of seven debutants when he was named in the representative team for the first time in December 1961. Opening the batting on Christmas Day against Wellington, he scored 21 runs in his first first-class innings in Otago's first Plunket Shield match of the 1961–62 season. According to The Press, he "played dourly but commendably in the circumstances" as Otago were dismissed for a score of 79 with only Holloway and Sutcliffe, who scored 22, batting with any "resistance". He went on to play in two more Shield matches over the Christmas and New Years period against Auckland and Northern Districts, but during the last match injured his ankle whilst fielding and was unavailable for the matches against Canterbury and Central Districts later in January, although he did play in a non-first-class match for Southland against Fiji during the month. In the second match of the 1962–63 season he carried his bat for 61 not out in a total of 122 against Central Districts, becoming the third Otago player to do so. This innings was his first half-century and remained his highest first-class score. He batted "very solidly" according to The Press, and was one of only two Otago batsmen to reach double-figures in their first innings. Holloway was selected to play against the touring MCC team, featuring in an Otago Invitational XI in March 1963. Opening once more, he scored just five runs in the match.

The last first-class match Holloway played was the following season. He was called into the Otago team for the final match of the season after captain Jack Alabaster was dropped. Batting at number three, he was out for a duck in his first innings and scored 13 in the second. He worked for the Farmer's Co-operative Insurance Association. He served on the executive committee of the Old Boys' Association of Southland Boys' High School during the 1970s.