Warren Lees

Not to be confused with Warren Lee (cricketer).

Warren Kenneth Lees MBE (born 19 March 1952) is a New Zealand cricketer and coach. He played 21 Test matches and 31 One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1976 and 1983 as a wicket-keeper batsman. He was coach of the New Zealand national cricket team between 1990 and 1993.

Warren Lees

MBE

Lees in 1978
Personal information
Full name	Warren Kenneth Lees
Born	(1952-03-19) 19 March 1952 (age 72) Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Role	Wicket-keeper
International information
National side	New Zealand (1979–1983)
Test debut (cap 135)	9 October 1976 v Pakistan
Last Test	25 August 1983 v England
ODI debut (cap 32)	9 June 1979 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	20 June 1983 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1971/72–1987/88	Otago
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 21 31 146 81 Runs scored 778 215 4,932 1,071 Batting average 23.57 11.31 24.66 18.78 100s/50s 1/1 0/0 5/18 0/4 Top score 152 26 152 73* Balls bowled 5 – 247 1 Wickets 0 – 2 0 Bowling average – – 54.50 – 5 wickets in innings – – 0 – 10 wickets in match – – 0 – Best bowling – – 1/34 – Catches/stumpings 52/7 28/2 304/44 82/10
Source: Cricinfo, 4 April 2017

Lees was born at Dunedin in 1952 and educated at King's High School in the city.^[1]

Domestic career

Lees made his first-class debut in February 1971, playing for a New Zealand under-23 side against Auckland. he made his Otago debut in December 1971 and played for the province's representative side until the end of the 1987–88 season. He played 146 first-class matches and scored 4,932 runs as well as 81 List A matches, scoring 1,071 runs.^[2] In his final season as captain of Otago (1987–88), Otago won both the one-day and first-class competitions.^[3]

International career

Lees followed Ken Wadsworth into the New Zealand side and soon proved himself a capable wicketkeeper-batsman. In only his third Test, against Pakistan at Karachi in 1976–77, he made 152 at a time New Zealand were in deep trouble and followed with 46 in the second innings to save the match.

He was very unfortunate to be left out of the tour of England in 1978, arguably being a better wicketkeeper and batsman than Jock Edwards, his replacement, which was described by one journalist as the worst wicketkeeper he had ever seen. He returned to England the following year as part the New Zealand side which reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, but the emergence of Ian Smith meant that these opportunities thereafter were limited.

In 1982–83 he took five catches in an innings and eight in the match against Sri Lanka at Wellington, and played his final Tests on the 1983 tour of England.

Coaching career

Otago

After ending his cricketing career he turned to coaching in 1989, he remained there until 1990 before being promoted to national team with which he spent nearly three years.^[4]

New Zealand

Lees' first tour in charge was very tough. New Zealand lost all three Tests and three ODIs, against Pakistan by big margins. Travelling did not get any easier, and they managed only one win on the road, against Zimbabwe in Harare. But there was one standout moment as coach for Lees – the 1992 World Cup.^[5]

New Zealand reached the semi-final of the tournament, losing to eventual champions Pakistan. He found good players for New Zealand but was not able to find any of great players. Players like Gavin Larsen, Rod Latham and Willie Watson were his find under Martin Crowe as captain of the team.

It was a tour abroad that ended Lees' national coaching role. After the team abandoned their trip to Sri Lanka in November and December 1992, when bomb blasts threatened their safety.

In 2014, after spending years with Black Caps, Lees became an interim coach of a New Zealand women's national cricket team called White Ferns.^[4] During that year, his team had participated in the 2017 World Cup against Sri Lanka and won seven wickets at the County Cricket Ground, Derby.^[6]

From 2012 until 2017 Warren Lees spent five years as the coach of the Otago Sparks cricket team. He considers the two titles that they won as a highlight in his coaching career.^[7]

Honours

In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, Lees was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to cricket.^[8]

Personal life

Lees lives in Clyde, Central Otago, with his wife Jude.^[5] He spends his days coaching what he calls "country kids", who do not have access to the same resources as their counterparts in big cities.

References

1. McCarron A (2010) New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 80. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. ISBN 978 1 905138 98 2 (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.)
2. Warren Lees, CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 November 2023. (subscription required)
3. Seconi, Adrian (13 June 2017). "Lees decides it's time to step down as Sparks coach". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
4. "Warren Lees named interim Coach of White Ferns". NZC. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
5. Genty, Mark (30 January 2015). "Former coach Warren Lees hopes Black Caps can go one better at World Cup". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
6. Seconi, Adrian (21 June 2017). "Great opportunity for White Ferns – Lees". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
7. Seconi, Adrian (13 June 2017). "Lees decides it's time to step down as Sparks coach". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
8. "No. 51774". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 17 June 1989. p. 32.