Another cricket writer of note in New Zealand has died this week.

Alex Veysey, for several years the cricket writer for the Dominion newspaper in Wellington and the man who penned John Reid's autobiography Sword of Willow, died in Wellington Hospital yesterday after a heart attack.

Veysey, 74, was part of a triumvirate of writers from New Zealand's leading morning newspapers of the time, Dick Brittenden of The Christchurch Press, who pre-deceased him by two days, and Don Cameron of The New Zealand Herald, who kept cricket to the fore during some lean years.

However, it is for his contribution to rugby writing that Veysey made his greatest mark. He served as The Dominion's rugby writer for many years and was seconded by the New Zealand Press Association to cover several tours, most notably the 1963/64 All Black tour of Great Britain and France.

He wrote All Black colossus Colin Meads' autobiography and it became the biggest-selling sports book in New Zealand. But he also worked with several other players, including Brian Lochore, Grant Fox and Stu Wilson and Bernie Fraser.

It was Veysey's scoop of sitting in on a pre-Test team talk by probably the finest of all All Black coaches Fred Allen, that resulted in Allen standing down from the position because of the stance of administrators who felt Allen had gone too far in allowing a journalist to sit in on what had been a sacrosanct tradition in All Black rugby. But he retired from the job an unbeaten coach with what is still regarded as one of the finest of rugby teams the world had seen.

In his last years in journalism Veysey transferred from the Dominion to the Evening Post where he served as a columnist. It was during this time that his extensive contacts in the rugby world resulted in Veysey making a Saturday morning phone call to the sports department that he had received word from a very reliable source that the player just named the world rugby player of the year, John Gallagher, a much-loved fullback in Wellington where the Evening Post was published, was about to do the unbelievable and switch rugby codes from union to league.

Reporters went to work to sift out more information and two days later the story broke, with a sensational lead for the newspaper that was unrivalled by any other news media outlet. Initial comment in other media outlets was scorn for the Evening Post, but Veysey's contacts, and those tested further by Post staff, proved totally reliable.

Veysey was the consummate newsman who moved easily into other areas of journalism, notably political writing, although he drew little joy from it. His ability to use his contacts, and retain their respect, was a superb asset and is a sadly declining skill in New Zealand journalism.

He is survived by his wife and a son and daughter.

© CricInfo