Conn McCall

Wisden Obituary
McCall, Hugh Conn, died at Bangor, Co. Down on June 7, 2002, aged 62. Bad weather forced Conn McCall to wait five days before beginning his first-class career in 1964. What should have been his Ireland debut, the annual fixture against Scotland, was abandoned without a ball bowled for the first time since 1888, and three weeks later the opening day against MCC at Dublin was also washed out. Happily the rain relented and on the second day, going in at No. 3, he made 81. Next year he hit 65 against the same opponents in the two-day match at Lord's, and with an unbeaten 65 saved the Irish from defeat at Dublin after Hampshire had them 30 for 5. It was in 1965, too, that McCall bowled his only first-class delivery of left-arm spin, conceding the winning single to the New Zealanders at Belfast - though for some years the ball was credited to Ireland's regular slow left-armer, Scott Huey. Seven of McCall's 15 games for Ireland were first-class and in these he scored 308 runs at 23.69. He served as an Irish selector in the first half of the 1980s, as chairman of the Northern Cricket Union and, in 1992, as president of the Irish Cricket Union. One of his sons, Mark, played rugby for Ulster and Ireland.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack