Dick Westcott

Who was Dick Westcott?

Richard John Westcott was a South African cricketer who played in five Tests from 1954 to 1958. He was the first Test cricketer to have been born in Portugal. Moises Henriques is the only other Portuguese born Test cricketer.

Dick Westcott was an adventurous right-handed opening batsman and a capable but under-used right-arm medium pace bowler who played for Western Province throughout the 1950s. He scored a century in his third match in 1950-51. Early in his career he was involved in a car crash which caused severe damage to his left arm, but he continued to play at a high standard.

In 1953-54, he scored 82 and 71 for Western Province against the New Zealand touring side, and he was called into the South Africa side for the third Test match at Newlands, Cape Town. New Zealand posted their then-highest score of 505 in this match and South Africa were forced to follow on. Westcott made 62 as the home side saved the match fairly comfortably. In the next game, Westcott opened with Jackie McGlew and scored 43 as the pair put on 104 for the first wicket. He retained his place for the final Test.