Ronald Draper, the oldest living Test cricketer, has passed away in Gqeberha at the age of 98 years and 63 days, his family confirmed on Friday.
South African top-order batter and occasional wicketkeeper, Ron Draper, played in 48 first-class matches and also represented South Africa in two Test matches against Australia in 1950.
Following his passing, former Australian cricketer Neil Harvey, now 96, becomes the oldest living Test player. Interestingly, South Africa has previously had two of the longest-living Test cricketers—Norman Gordon, who lived to 103 before passing in 2016, and John Watkins, who was 98 when he died in 2021.
Speaking of Ron Draper, he made his first-class debut for Eastern Province on his 19th birthday, scoring a century against Orange Free State. He went on to play some incredible knocks, and after an impressive 86-run innings for Eastern Province against the touring Australian team in the 1949/50 season, he was selected for the last two Tests against Australia. However, he managed only 25 runs across three innings. Meanwhile, Neil Harvey, who was 21 at the time, scored centuries in both matches, Harvey, as mentioned earlier, is now the oldest living Test player.
Ronald Draper stats
| Format | Matches (Mat) | Innings (Inns) | Not Outs (NO) | Runs | Highest Score (HS) | Average (Ave) | 100s | 50s | 6s | Catches (Ct) | Stumpings (St) |
| Tests | 2 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 15 | 8.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| First-Class (FC) | 48 | 85 | 6 | 3,290 | 177 | 41.64 | 11 | 11 | – | 32 | 10 |
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