Photo Credit: New Zealand Cricket
Profiles
Career Highlights
Current Role
President, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) (Nov 2022 – Present)
Broadcaster, The Radio Network (Mar 1986 – Present)
Commentator, Various (Present)
Previous Role
Vice President, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) (Nov 2021 – Nov 2002)
Cricketer, New Zealand Women’s National Team (Jan 1979 – Feb 1990)
Field Hockey Player, New Zealand Hockey Team (1984 Los Angeles Olympics)
Cricketer, Canterbury (1975 – 1990)
Bio
Lesley Murdoch is a former New Zealand International Cricketer and a Hockey Player, and current executive and administrator.
Murdoch played 6 Tests and 25 ODIs for the New Zealand women’s team and captained it in both formats. She was also a New Zealand women’s cricket team selector. A double international, Murdoch also represented her country in hockey at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Murdoch was elected NZC’s Vice President for a one-year term in November 2021, following which she became eligible for nomination for the role of NZC President. She was finally elected as the President of New Zealand Cricket at the organization’s 128th Annual General Meeting in November 2022, becoming only the second woman to fill this role after outgoing president, Debbie Hockley.
Murdoch is also a member of the Hood Community that modernized the old New Zealand Cricket Council in 1995, while from 1996-1998 she was a New Zealand Cricket Board member. In 2019, she was made a life member of New Zealand Cricket.
Murdoch is a previous President of the Christchurch Metro Cricket Association and is now a board member of the organization. She is also a Netball New Zealand board member and a trustee of the NZ Community Trust.
Over the past three decades, Lesley has also been a prominent sports broadcaster and Commentator. She was a Radio Broadcaster at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur. She has extensively covered Men’s and Women’s ball-by-ball cricket commentary on radio, while also covering the 2000 Women’s Cricket World Cup on SKY TV NZ as a Commentator. Her other commentary stints include 2007 Netball World Championships in Auckland for SKY Sport New Zealand, 2012 London Olympic Games for SKY Sports on Hockey, 2016 Rio Olympic Games for OBS Hockey and served as a 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games Host Broadcaster for Hockey.
Murdoch remains a Commentator for OBS and SKY Network Television calling Netball, Hockey and Cricket, and is also a sideline reporter for Radio Sport during Rugby matches at AMI Stadium. She hosts a Saturday morning sports show on Christchurch’s Newstalk ZB.
Murdoch was awarded an MBE in 1987 for services to cricket and hockey, and in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honors, she was appointed an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to sport. In 2016, Murdoch became the first woman to receive the New Zealand Sports Journalism Association’s Lifetime Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sports.
