George Hawke

George Hawke (3 January 1871 – 19 September 1950) was a New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Hawke's Bay from 1901 to 1911.[1]

George Hawke

Hawke in 1903
Personal information
Born	(1871-01-03)3 January 1871 Greytown, Wairarapa, New Zealand
Died	19 September 1950(1950-09-19) (aged 79) Napier, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1900-01 to 1910-11	Hawke's Bay
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 14 Runs scored 580 Batting average 22.30 100s/50s 0/4 Top score 87 Balls bowled 48 Wickets 1 Bowling average 42.00 5 wickets in innings 0 10 wickets in match 0 Best bowling 1/25 Catches/stumpings 5/–
Source: Cricinfo, 9 November 2021

Hawke was born in Greytown, Wairarapa, into a farming family. He began working for the Post Office at Greytown, then transferred to Foxton[2] before moving to the Napier telegraph office, where he served until 1911, when he was transferred to Waihi.[3] During World War I he was the postmaster at the Trentham Military Camp in Upper Hutt, and his last appointment before he retired in 1923 was as postmaster in Te Kuiti in the King Country region.[2]

While living in Napier, Hawke was one of the leading batsmen for Hawke's Bay. Short and sturdy, and strong on the leg side,[4] he scored 87 on his first-class debut in January 1901, adding 110 for the seventh wicket with Hugh Lusk to help Hawke's Bay to an innings victory over Auckland.[5] He scored 22 and 84 against Wellington in February 1909.[4]