John Prince Death, Obituary – CNZ Life Member John Graham Prince passed away recently, and we are writing to tell you of his passing. We do it despite our profound sadness about the matter. On the evening of Tuesday, February 14, John, who was 77 years old at the time of his death, passed away peacefully in the hospital. After John’s passing, only his wife Sue and their two sons will remember him.
No one else will even know who he was. When John was 14 years old, he went to the NaeNae Croquet Club in Lower Hutt for the first time. There, he learned how to play croquet for the first time. A short time later, Ashley Heenan became John’s mentor and assisted him in improving his performance in the game. Despite the fact that John was only 17 years old at the time, he was chosen to compete for the MacRobertson Shield in 1963.
In a test match that was played against England, he demonstrated why he should have been chosen for the team by achieving victory against John Solomon, who was widely regarded as the best player in the world at the time. John was given the opportunity to play for New Zealand in nine different MacRobertson Shield competitions, and on one of those occasions, he managed the squad.
Additionally, John was the team captain five times, during which time they won the MacRobertson Shield on two separate occasions: once in New Zealand in 1979 and once in Great Britain in 1986. Both of these victories took place in Great Britain. It is a MacRobertson World record that he became the youngest player to ever compete, that he played in 9 MacRobertson series, and that he was the first player to ever play 100 matches. All of these achievements were accomplished by him. He was the youngest player in the history of the game, and he set these records.