Martin Guptill loses his father; returns early from the CPL

New Zealand opener, Martin Guptill, is mourning the loss of his father who lost the battle against cancer on Sunday. The death of Martin’s father, Peter Guptill, was confirmed by Auckland’s Suburbs New Lynn cricket club. Guptill had returned from Caribbean Premier League recently citing family reasons.

He was leading Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL 2017 when he was forced to leave the tournament on immediate basis for what was described as a family health matter. The news must have come as a shock to the cricketer as he along with his wife Laura McGoldrick are expecting a child next month.

Who was Peter Guptill?

Peter Guptill was a suburbs stalwart and was there from the beginning with Suburbs New Lynn Cricket Club (SNLCC). He started playing cricket for the club in 1972/73 and his name appears first in the year’s annual report. Martin’s father made his premier debut in 1976/77 and continued to play for the next 21 year.

The 64-year-old played his last season for premier in 1997/98 but continued playing cricket for another 10 years. He had an amazing career of whopping 35 years and is the second highest run-scorer of all time for the club with 11,901 runs to his name.

Peter served on the committee for many years, as Junior Chairman from 2002 to 2005 and then most recently as President for 4 years from 2012 to 2015. His last visit to the club was in April while battling his illness to watch the gentleman’s game. According to the information shared by SNLCC on their page, Peter was always had plenty of advice to share with those playing, as well as telling a few stories to those supporting.

The SNLCC club also expressed their grief at the loss of such a stalwart of theirs. The club’s posting said, “Peter – we salute you, you are a club legend and you will be sadly missed. RIP our dear friend.”

The loss is huge for the Black Caps opener and it seems unlikely that he will return to the CPL as Guyana are looking good to make it to the playoffs after their win against Barbados on Tuesday.