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Kenneth (Ken) Robert Rutherford (born 26 October 1965, Dunedin) is a former New Zealand cricketer who enjoyed a ten-year career with the national team, and was captain for a period. Aged 19, with a solitary first class season behind him, he was asked to open the batting for New Zealand against West Indies when the latter were at the height of their powers. His first 6 scores in Tests were 0, 0, 4 (an edge through the slips), 0, 2 and 5. Notwithstanding that unproductive start, Rutherford returned to the side afterwards and managed more success against West Indies when the latter toured New Zealand later in the 1980s.

Rutherford was more or less a steady feature of the side after his return (against Australia a couple of years after his West Indian debacle). He had a habit of not converting fifties into centuries in Test cricket - he clearly had the ability to do so, as shown by his 35 first-class centuries. He captained New Zealand's team for three years, with only two Test wins in 18 attempts in what was a difficult tenure as New Zealand struggled to find a replacement for the retired Richard Hadlee and suffered the decline in power of their only world class batsman, Martin Crowe.

Arguably, Rutherford's greatest success came in One Day International where he won ten matches as captain and made his highest international score, with 108 in a losing cause against India. He was a member of the New Zealand side which reached the semi finals of the 1992 World Cup, their best performance in the tournament's history.

Upon being dropped from the New Zealand team in 1995, Rutherford moved to South Africa, where he played first-class cricket for five seasons, first for Transvaal and then for Gauteng, before finally retiring, scoring a duck in his very last game. After retirement from the playing side of the game, he coached the Irish national cricket team.

Rutherford's highest first-class score of 317, scored playing for a New Zealand touring side against a D.B.Close XI at Scarborough in 1986, achieved several records for New Zealand cricket. it contained eight sixes and 45 boundary fours, crossing the boundary rope a record 53 times. The runs were scored in a day - the most runs scored in one day by a New Zealand batsman, and 199 of the runs were scored in one session between lunch and tea. Only one cricketer worldwide has scored more first-class runs in one session - Don Bradman. The match was something of a festival occasion, with some elderly players in the fielding ranks, and Rutherford had not played with great distinction in the test matches.

Rutherford's elder brother Ian also played first-class cricket at a provincial level for Otago Volts.

Rutherford's eldest son Hamish Rutherford played in 2008 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia.

External links

• Cricinfo profile

New Zealand squad – 1987 Cricket World Cup 1 JJ Crowe (c) • 2 Boock • 3 Bracewell • 4 Chatfield • 5 MD Crowe • 6 Horne • 7 Jones • 8 Morrison • 9 Patel • 10 Rutherford • 11 Smith (wk) • 12 Snedden • 13 Watson • 14 Wright

New Zealand squad – 1992 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Crowe (c) • 2 Cairns • 3 Greatbatch • 4 Harris • 5 Jones • 6 Larsen • 7 Latham • 8 Morrison • 9 Patel • 10 Rutherford • 11 Smith (wk) • 12 Su'a • 13 Watson • 14 Wright