William Alfred Cate (22 November 1878 – 22 October 1939) was a cricketer who played four matches of first-class cricket for Wellington between 1908 and 1922, and represented New Zealand in 1922–23.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Alfred Cate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1878-11-22)22 November 1878 Upper Hutt, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 22 October 1939(1939-10-22) (aged 60) Petone, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1908–09 to 1922–23 | Wellington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 20 April 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alf Cate worked as a wool classer in Wellington, and taught wool classing at the Hutt Valley Memorial Technical College for 25 years. He and his wife had a daughter.[1]
He made his first-class debut in 1908, but then had to wait until 1920 before he played again, partly because Wellington had New Zealand representative wicket-keepers in Jeremiah Mahoney and James Condliffe in this period, but also because he was unable to make himself available.[1] Despite his age (44) and lack of first-class experience, Cate replaced Condliffe as New Zealand's wicket-keeper in the third of the three matches New Zealand played against MCC in 1922–23.[2] It was his last first-class match.
The former New Zealand captain Tom Cobcroft, writing in the New Zealand Truth, regarded Cate still as New Zealand's best wicket-keeper in 1925, when Cate was 47, hampered by ill-health, and playing only club cricket for Petone in Wellington.[3]