Clive Halse

Who was Clive Halse?

Clive Gray Halse was a South African cricketer who played in three Tests in 1964.

Halse was a right-arm fast bowler and a right-handed tail-end batsman who made his first-class debut in 1952-53 for Natal aged 17. He played only 16 matches in 10 seasons before establishing himself in 1962-63 when, with the help of a sympathetic employer who let him leave work an hour early every day to practise, he took 19 wickets at 18.26, helping Natal win the Currie Cup, and earning selection for the tour of Australasia the following season.

On the tour, his modest returns in the state matches and the success of the Test opening bowlers Peter Pollock and Joe Partridge with medium-pace support from Trevor Goddard and Eddie Barlow kept him out of the Test side until the Third Test. He took two wickets in that drawn match, then three wickets in the Fourth Test in Adelaide, when he took the match-winning wicket in his best Test figures of 3 for 50 in the second innings. He took one wicket in the Fifth Test, but the selectors returned to the four-man pace attack in the three subsequent Tests in New Zealand. Batting at number 11, he was not dismissed in any of his three Test innings.