{{short description|Irish cricketer and businessman}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = | image = | country = Ireland | fullname = Donald Montague McVeagh Pratt | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1935|7|9|df=yes}} | birth_place = Dublin, Leinster, Ireland | death_date = | death_place = | nickname = | family = George McVeagh (uncle) | batting = Left-handed | bowling = | role = | club1 = Ireland | year1 = 1963–1966 | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 6 | runs1 = 171 | bat avg1 = 14.25 | 100s/50s1 = –/2 | top score1 = 58 | deliveries1 = 0 | wickets1 = – | bowl avg1 = – | fivefor1 = – | tenfor1 = – | best bowling1 = – | catches/stumpings1 = –/– | date = 26 October | year = 2018 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ireland/content/player/24497.html Cricinfo }}
'''Donald Montague McVeagh Pratt''' (born 9 July 1935) is an Irish businessman and former first-class cricketer and squash player.
== Biography == Born at Dublin, Pratt was educated in the city at Sandford Park School and St Columba's College.<ref name="CE">{{cite web|url=https://www.cricketeurope.com/IRELAND/PLAYERS/498/index.shtml |title=Donald Montague McVeagh Pratt |publisher=CricketEurope |accessdate=26 October 2018}}</ref> He later studied at Trinity College Dublin, where he played cricket for Dublin University Cricket Club.<ref name="CE"/> After completing his studies, Pratt moved into the legal profession as a solicitor.<ref name="CE"/> Playing his club cricket in Dublin for Phoenix,<ref name="CE"/> he made his debut in first-class cricket for Ireland against Scotland at Derry in 1963.<ref name="FCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/26/26878/First-Class_Matches.html |title=First-Class Matches played by Donald Pratt |publisher=CricketEurope |accessdate=26 October 2018}}</ref> He played five further first-class matches for Ireland, appearing against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1964, the touring New Zealanders, Scotland, and Hampshire in 1965, and the MCC in 1966.<ref name="FCM"/> He scored 171 run in these six matches, averaging 14.25.<ref name="FCB">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/26/26878/f_Batting_by_Team.html |title=First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Donald Pratt |publisher=CricketEurope |accessdate=26 October 2018}}</ref> He had just two innings of note where he passed fifty,<ref name="FCB"/> with a highest score of 58 against the New Zealanders at Belfast.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/27/27629.html |title=Ireland v New Zealanders, 1965 |publisher=CricketEurope |accessdate=26 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="CE"/>
Pratt was also a noted squash player, winning the Irish Squash Championship for ten years in a row<ref name="NEWS">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/business/donald-pratt-26417691.html|title=Donald Pratt|date=22 October 2006|work=Irish Independent|accessdate=26 October 2018}}</ref> and representing Ireland at international level.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19730419/433/0023 |title=Squash |work=The Scotsman |date=19 April 1973|page=23|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=5 May 2026}}</ref>
He stopped working as a solicitor in 1974, when he and his wife purchased Avoca Handweavers, a County Wicklow business dating back to 1723.<ref name="NEWS"/> By 2006, the company had eight stores in Ireland and one in the United States, and employed 475 people.<ref name="NEWS"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{cricinfo|id=24497}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Donald}} Category:1935 births Category:Living people Category:Businesspeople from Dublin (city) Category:People educated at Sandford Park School Category:People educated at St Columba's College, Dublin Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Category:Cricketers from Dublin (city) Category:Irish male squash players Category:Irish solicitors Category:Irish businesspeople Category:Lawyers from Dublin (city) Category:Irish cricketers Category:20th-century Irish sportsmen