after the war. In the winters he played rugby league for Wigan (Heritage No. 369) and Halifax (Heritage No. 412), having been a in the Canterbury team. Merritt: "My decision to come to England was dictated by business reasons, and when it is realised that some members of the New Zealand team are without employment at all, I do not think I can be blamed". He played only three more seasons in New Zealand. In 1935–36, his last season at home, he coached Canterbury and took 31 wickets in the Plunket Shield, which remained the record for several years. That season, in his last match in New Zealand, he took 13 wickets for 181 against Otago. By 1938 he had qualified by residence to play for Northamptonshire, where his New Zealand Test colleague Ken James had settled as wicket-keeper. In his one full season for the county, 1939, he scored 926 runs and took 87 wickets, though in this one English season of eight-ball overs he was conceding runs at almost five an over. He was instrumental, with 12 wickets, in enabling Northamptonshire to record their first victory in first-class cricket for almost four years, against Cambridge University, and followed that up with six wickets in an innings when, in the same month of May 1939, the team beat another county (Leicestershire) for the first time since May 1935. Walter Hammond described one of his deliveries as "a leg-break which struck like a cobra, one of the nastiest balls I have had to deal with". Merritt returned to Northamptonshire to play one season after the Second World War, but his appearances were restricted by a League contract to midweek games. He retired into the Leagues full-time after 1946, returning to New Zealand only in 1966, having run a successful business in Dudley, Worcestershire. He joined the BBC commentary team for the Test Matches when New Zealand toured England in 1958 and 1969. References External links 1908 births 1977 deaths Cricketers from Christchurch People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School Canterbury cricketers Canterbury rugby league team players Halifax R.L.F.C. players New Zealand cricket commentators New Zealand cricketers New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Test cricketers Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Wigan Warriors players