{{short description|New Zealand cricketer (1877–1938)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2016}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Alister Howden | image = AM Howden NZ Herald 26 11 1938.jpg | caption = Alister Howden in 1910 | country = New Zealand | fullname = Alister MacDonald Howden | birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|8|20|df=yes}} | birth_place = Rothesay, Bute, Scotland | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1938|11|25|1877|8|20}} | death_place = Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm leg-spin | family = {{ubl|Ernest Howden (brother)|Peter Howden (nephew)}} | club1 = Auckland | year1 = {{nowrap|1906/07–1914/15}} | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 11 | runs1 = 95 | bat avg1 = 7.91 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 29 | deliveries1 = 1,888 | wickets1 = 53 | bowl avg1 = 18.00 | fivefor1 = 4 | tenfor1 = 1 | best bowling1 = 7/87 | catches/stumpings1= 5/– | date = 1 November | year = 2017 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37445.html Cricinfo }}
'''Alister MacDonald Howden''' (20 August 1877 – 25 November 1938) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played first-class cricket for Auckland between 1906 and 1914.<ref name="Bio">{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37445.html |title=Alister Howden |accessdate=12 June 2016 |work=ESPN Cricinfo}}</ref>
==Life and career== Howden was born in Scotland and moved to New Zealand with his family as a boy. After attending Otago Boys' High School he worked for the Bank of Australasia in Invercargill before taking other positions in financial institutions in New Zealand.<ref name=NZH38>{{cite journal |title=Citizen's Death: Mr. A. M. Howden |journal=New Zealand Herald |date=26 November 1938 |page=17 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19381126.2.164}}</ref> He went into business as a grain and produce merchant in Auckland in the 1900s.<ref name=NZH38/>
In 1908-09 Howden took 7 for 87 and 5 for 61 with his leg-spin to help Auckland retain the Plunket Shield against Otago, dismissing his brother Ernest in each innings.<ref>{{cite web |title=Auckland v Otago 1908-09 |url=http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/7/7760.html |website=CricketArchive |accessdate=14 April 2019}}</ref> In January 1910, after Howden had taken six wickets against Canterbury and eight against Wellington to help Auckland retain the Shield, an Auckland cricket writer said: "it is the opinion of many experts that he is without exception the best bowler in New Zealand at present".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Cricket: Notes and Comments |journal=New Zealand Herald |date=19 January 1910 |page=5 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19100119.2.21.1}}</ref> He was selected in the first of the two matches New Zealand played against Australia later that season, but had no success.<ref>Don Neely & Richard Payne, ''Men in White: The History of New Zealand International Cricket, 1894–1985'', Moa, Auckland, 1986, p. 51.</ref>
Howden was also an accomplished golfer who won several local championships.<ref name=NZH38/>
Howden died in November 1938, aged 61, survived by his wife and four sons.<ref name=NZH38/> He left an estate worth 11,000 pounds.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Auckland Estates |journal=New Zealand Herald |date=20 December 1938 |page=15 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19381220.2.148}}</ref> A short biography (containing family trees) titled ''Alister MacDonald Howden: A True Sportsman 1875-1938'' was published in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alister MacDonald Howden: a true sportsman |url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/record/am_library-catalogq40-86987 |website=Auckland Museum |access-date=13 August 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{ESPNcricinfo|id=37445}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Howden, Alister}} Category:1877 births Category:1938 deaths Category:Auckland cricketers Category:Sportspeople from Rothesay Category:Cricketers from Argyll and Bute Category:New Zealand cricketers Category:People educated at Otago Boys' High School Category:Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Category:Scottish emigrants to New Zealand