Heath Davis: Former Test bowler becomes first New Zealand male player to come out as gay | Cricket News
Davis, now 50 and living in Australia, played five Tests and 11 one-day internationals from 1994 to 1997 as well as enjoying a lengthy domestic career as a fast bowler; Davis says it was “lonely” keeping his personal and professional life separate
Last Updated: 02/08/22 8:21am
Heath Davis bowling for New Zealand A against England in 1997
Former Test pace bowler Heath Davis has become the first male New Zealand international cricketer to come out as gay.
Davis, now 50 and living in Australia, played five Tests and 11 one-day internationals from 1994 to 1997 as well as enjoying a lengthy domestic career as a quick but erratic bowler.
“I felt there was this part of my life that I was hiding,” he said in an interview with online magazine The Spinoff.
“There was a lot of that, just keeping your personal life separate. It was lonely… I was repressing it, I wasn’t living a gay life.”
Davis said life improved after a move from his native Wellington to play domestic cricket in the more cosmopolitan city of Auckland in 1997.
“I felt there was this part of my life I needed to express, I was sick of hiding it,” he added.
“Everyone in Auckland knew I was gay, in the team, but it didn’t seem to be that big an issue… I just felt free.”
Former England wicketkeeper Steven Davies became the first male international cricketer to publicly come out as gay in early 2011.
