{{short description|New Zealand cricketer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2016}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Samuel Alpe | image = | country = | fullname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1834|3|29|df=yes}} | birth_place = Swaffham, Norfolk, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1918|7|30|1834|3|29|df=yes}} | death_place = Wellington, New Zealand | nickname = | batting = | bowling = | role = Batsman | club1 = Auckland | year1 = 1873/74 | club2 = Canterbury | year2 = {{nowrap|1875/76–1879/80}} | club3 = Wellington | year3 = {{nowrap|1882/83–1884/85}} | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 13 | runs1 = 242 | bat avg1 = 11.52 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 29* | hidedeliveries = true | wickets1 = | bowl avg1 = | fivefor1 = | tenfor1 = | best bowling1 = | catches/stumpings1 = 6/0 | date = 18 August | year = 2024 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/36238.html ESPNcricinfo }}
'''Samuel Alpe''' (29 March 1834 – 30 July 1918) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played first-class cricket for Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington between 1873 and 1885.<ref name="Bio">{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/36238.html |title=Samuel Alpe |access-date=1 June 2016 |work=ESPN Cricinfo}}</ref>
Alpe was born in England and fought in the Crimean War before moving to New Zealand in 1859. He was a storekeeper in Auckland before joining the forces fighting the New Zealand Wars in the 1860s. He was in charge of army service stores in the Thames and Waikato regions before going into business in Auckland and Christchurch. Finally he moved to Wellington, where he worked in the Stores Branch of the Railways Department for more than 30 years.<ref name=AOTC>{{cite journal |title=An Old-Time Cricketer |journal=Sun |date=1 August 1918 |page=7 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SUNCH19180801.2.37}}</ref><ref name=NZT>{{cite journal |title=[Untitled] |journal=New Zealand Times |date=7 August 1918 |page=3 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19180807.2.12.7}}</ref>
Alpe was a batsman with "a strong defence and much patience" and a fine fieldsman.<ref name=AOTC/> He was one of the main batsmen on Auckland's southern tour in 1873, the first internal cricket tour in New Zealand, when Auckland won all four matches.<ref>{{cite journal |title=All Sorts of People |journal=Free Lance |date=15 August 1918 |page=4 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZFL19180815.2.5}}</ref> His highest first-class score was 29 not out for Wellington in their victory over Hawke's Bay in 1883–84, when he top-scored in the first innings.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wellington v Hawke's Bay 1883-84 |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2783.html |website=CricketArchive |access-date=18 August 2024}}</ref> He won a prize for his fielding when Canterbury lost narrowly to the touring English team in 1876–77, when the English veteran player James Southerton judged him to be the best long stop in New Zealand.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Southerton on the New Zealand Cricketers |journal=Globe |date=16 April 1877 |page=2 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GLOBE18770416.2.9}}</ref><ref name=AOTC/>
Alpe was married twice. He had five sons and three daughters.<ref name=NZT/> He died of heart disease in Wellington in July 1918, aged 84.<ref name=AOTC/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{ESPNcricinfo|id=36238}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpe, Samuel}} Category:1834 births Category:1918 deaths Category:New Zealand cricketers Category:Auckland cricketers Category:Canterbury cricketers Category:Wellington cricketers Category:People from Swaffham Category:British emigrants to New Zealand Category:Cricketers from Norfolk Category:British Army personnel of the Crimean War Category:British military personnel of the New Zealand Wars