Former New Zealand cricketer Matt Poore dies aged 90

Christchurch, June 13:  Former New Zealand cricketer Matt Poore has passed away. He died on Friday, 10 days after his 90th birthday. Poore featured in 14 Tests for the Black Caps, scoring 355 runs and picking up nine wickets between 1953-1956.

He also played 61 Tests for Canterbury and scored 2,336 runs and ended up with 68 wickets.

Poore is widely remembered because of a freak incident involving a stray dog in Bengaluru Test during the 1955 New Zealand tour of India.

"NZC is saddened to learn of the death of former Test batsman Matt Poore, who passed away this morning, aged 90. Matt played 14 Tests and was involved in two of our landmark tours: to South Africa in 1953, and to India and Pakistan in 1955," New Zealand Cricket said on Twitter.

According to a report published in stuff.co.nz, Poore tried to make the dog leave the field after it had wandered on to the field.

The all-rounder was reportedly bitten by the dog while he was trying to escort him. To make matter's worse, the travelling party feared the dog had passed on life-threatening rabies to the cricketer.

"The whole family were always dog lovers and Dad would go up and pat any old dog, which he did this time and he got bitten," Poore's son, Richard, said.

"While they were travelling they would meet a doctor at a specific time, it could be 100km from the nearest town out in the middle of the road for his next injection into his stomach.

"He something like 12 injections over a 12-day period, some of them from team-mates. I think a few might have taken a bit of pleasure in that," he added.