At 100 years old, Tom Pritchard is well qualified to talk about fast bowling.

Murray Wilson/ Fairfax NZ Tom Pritchard, New Zealand's oldest living first-class cricketer, turns 100 on Friday.

Pritchard, who celebrates his 100th birthday on Friday, is New Zealand's oldest living first-class cricketer and he bent his back more than most during a 200-game career in New Zealand and England.

Living in Levin these days, Pritchard is still healthy and mobile at 100, and he's not short of a word when the topic of bowling comes up.

Cricket has changed a lot over the years, but Pritchard, who is still a keen follower of the sport, can easily recall his playing days 70 years ago.

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"It's a peculiar game now, instead of playing on that green stuff, there's dirt in the middle," he said. "We don't see many [batsmen] being bowled.

"You're finding people bowling a lot shorter than they did in the old days."

In Pritchard's 10 years of playing English county cricket for Warwickshire, short-pitched bowling was rare and he believes it's over used now.

He always set out to attack the stumps, with most of his victims either bowled or lbw.

"I hit a lot of people. Fortunately I wasn't trying to, it just happened."

The only time he intentionally bounced someone was when a batsman came down the pitch within two metres of him to pat the pitch.

"The first two balls hit his gloves and went for four, so I stopped after that."

Even if he did hit someone, he said they were still great friends, as most of the county players were, and would have a drink afterwards.

He said too many seamers these days bowl halfway down the pitch, rather than pitch it up and look for a wicket.

When he bowled he stacked the field with men in catching positions ready for an edge.

"We used to bowl to try and get someone out, not to try and hit them."

Pritchard believed bouncers infiltrated cricket after the West Indies toured to England.

"They were real bouncers."

A montage of headlines showing highlights of Tom Pritchard's career. CREDIT: Murray Wilson/Fairfax NZ

He would have cut the figure of a menacing pace bowler in his prime and had a reputation as a tearaway quick.

Despite all those years terrorising batsman, Pritchard was known for being a friendly bloke and enjoying a chuckle.

That demeanour remains today and he is always happy to chat cricket.

Pritchard could only recall one sledge during his playing days and he wasn't a fan of the way some test players carried on today. He believed if sledges were sent around the ground for the crowd to hear, it would put an end to it.

"Nobody would be running up saying 'kill him'."

IN HIS PRIME

It was almost one of the crimes of the century that Pritchard never played a test for New Zealand, but the thought doesn't torment him.

He is fourth on the list of New Zealander first-class wicket takers behind Richard Hadlee, Clarrie Grimmett and Syd Smith, and was thought to be one of the great pace bowlers.

But Pritchard didn't have any regrets about not playing a test match, because if he had played a test, he may not have followed the same path in life.

"I was disappointed in 1937, when everybody more or less said I was unfortunate. It was the best thing that happened to me that I didn't get in.

"The great thing was I met my wife, who passed away a few years ago. I have a lovely family and found other jobs after I finished playing."

If he had become a fixture in the New Zealand test team, Pritchard may not have met his wife Mavis, who was from Kent and in the army.

The bowling style of Tom Pritchard, one of the fastest bowlers of the 1930s and 40s. CREDIT: Supplied

The pair met at a dance in London when Pritchard was playing for Warwickshire and were married for 64 years before Mavis died in 2009.

Pritchard did play against Walter Hadlee's touring New Zealand team in 1949 and took six wickets in the first innings.

"The one time I would have been [disappointed to not play for NZ] was when they came, it would have been 1949, and I was asked [to play for NZ]," Pritchard said. "But then I had my benefit season coming up in and I thought there was some possibility the benefit would have been put back."

Signed by Warwickshire in 1946 for 500 pounds a year, Pritchard was initially ineligible, so had to play for their second XI for a season, but became a regular wicket taker for the top side.

Warwickshire gave him a benefit season in 1952, and he finished in 1955, but played a season with Kent as an amateur in 1956.

One of his most successful seasons was 1948, when he bowled 1139.3 overs in 30 matches for Warwickshire, taking 163 wickets.

Joe Hardstaff, Cyril Washbrook, Peter May and Denis Compton were the toughest batsman Pritchard bowled to, as was England great Len Hutton, but Pritchard did dismiss him lbw in both innings of one game.

Pritchard said he only drank water or beer in his time and joked he would be given the bum's rush if he were playing today for "having beer for breakfast".

He would bowl lengthy spells, but it didn't bother him and during his first-class career he bowled 42871 deliveries.

"They used to say I wouldn't last. I used to bowl 30 overs at a time."

He only had one serious injury, where he tore muscles underneath his ribs and he when he first returned to play he wore "ladies stays", a supportive undergarment.

That is a far cry to the many injuries that afflict fast bowlers today. Pritchard wasn't sure why so many break down, but said it could be their actions.

Pritchard had a lot of praise for New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and said former New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder is the cleanest hitter of a cricket ball he's seen.

He has loads of anecdotes from his time and remembers things like Surrey patching all the holes in their pitch up, at one game they couldn't find the key to start the heavy roller, and at one Warwickshire home game, their groundsman was seen drying the ground with a flame thrower.

EARLY YEARS

It was a long way for Pritchard, born on March 10, 1917, to go from his home town of Kaupokonui, a coastal Taranaki village.

He first played cricket when he was 11 and started with Wednesday club cricket in Hawera, then played for a South Taranaki rep team, before being picked to play a touring English team.

"It's the first recollection I ever had of seeing a googly," Pritchard recalled of the match in 1936. "Jim Sims, a lovely fellow, he bowled the first ball and I hit it for four and I thought it was easy.

"He bowled the next ball and I played the same shot and got bowled."

Pritchard moved to Palmerston North to work on the railroad where he met engine driver Alex McVicar, who Pritchard said was the one who made the most difference in his bowling career.

McVicar had Pritchard bowling at one stump for an hour at a time.

Pritchard worked the night shift from midnight to 8am so he could play club cricket during the day.

After making an immediate impact on the club scene, Pritchard was straight into the Manawatu rep side, which was in the middle of a four-year Hawke Cup reign, resisting 15 challenges.

Those were the days before Central Districts and it was hard for anyone outside of Wellington to be selected in the Wellington first-class side.

Pritchard was overlooked for New Zealand's tour of England in 1937, but his performances were too hard to ignore and he finally played for Wellington against Canterbury on December 31, 1937, taking six wickets in the match.

Pritchard bowled well for Wellington and got his one chance to play for New Zealand at the Basin Reserve against Englishman Sir Julien Cahn's touring team in March, 1939, where Pritchard took one wicket in a rain-affected draw.

Cahn strode out to the middle that day with pads inflated with air.

After that game Pritchard received two offers to play in England, but wasn't interested.

The outbreak of war interrupted cricket in New Zealand and Pritchard joined the army in 1941, and he was sent to Waiouru with the tank corps.

His last first-class game in New Zealand was for the New Zealand Army against the New Zealand Air Force in Christchurch in April 1943.

He shipped off to Egypt in 1943, where he captained the army cricket team, then was briefly stationed in Italy.

One day he got back from duty in the wee hours of the morning to find a note asking him to play a match in Rome and after the war, Pritchard was a late inclusion in Central Mediterranean Forces team to play against a Lord's XI, at Lord's in London.

After that he was asked by General Bernard Freyberg, commander of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, to play against HDG Leveson-Gower's XI.

"[Freyberg] said 'would you like to play in London?' After that one week I stayed for 40 years and never went back."

AFTER CRICKET

After all his years in England, having worked in sales after he retired, Pritchard brought the family back to New Zealand in 1986 and settled in Levin.

On his return to New Zealand, Pritchard was involved in the racing industry, and still has an interest in a couple of horses.

He also keeps a close eye on his grandson Dave Meiring, who is the captain of the Manawatu rep team.

Pritchard has already received his letter from the Queen for reaching 100, as well as one from Prime Minister Bill English, Governor General Patsy Reddy and a couple of MPs.

For the big day itself, there was a family lunch planned, where all six of his great granddaughters would be in attendance.

Tom Pritchard

Mat balls wkts BBI ave 5w 10

200 42871 818 8/20 23.30 48 11

NZ's highest first-class wicket takers

Richard Hadlee 1490

Clarrie Grimmett 1424

Syd Smith 955

Tom Pritchard 818

Andre Adams 692

Jeetan Patel 675

Dipak Patel 654

Chris Cairns 647

Stephen Boock 640

Chris Martin 599

Ewen Chatfield 587

* an earlier version of this story omitted Jeetan Patel.