Graham Thorne Dowling OBE is a former cricketer who played 39 Test matches for New Zealand and captained the national team. Dowling, an accomplished opener and superb fielder, was a regular in the New Zealand side throughout the 1960s and a capable captain who led his country 19 times. He made three Test hundreds, all against India, with the highlights being when he scored 143 at Dunedin in 1967/68 and followed with 239 in 556 minutes at Christchurch to lead his side to their first win over the Indians (it was also his first game as captain). In 1969 he had to have half a finger amputated after an accident while keeping wicket.

Graham Dowling was born in Christchurch. His father was a schoolteacher. He was brought up by his mother, an athletic lady who encouraged sport. There was a volley-board in the Dowling backyard (for tennis) where young Graham used to hit the ball hard. He took to cricket at a very early age and used to visit Lancaster Park for Canterbury matches.

He made his First-Class debut at 21 against Otago; he failed, scoring 1 and 2, but Canterbury decided to persist with him. In his third match, against Central Districts, Dowling top-scored with 103 as his team romped to 7-wicket victory in the Plunket Shield encounter. Dowling captained Canterbury from 1962–63 to 1971–72. He led Canterbury to victory in New Zealand's inaugural one-day competition in 1971/72, when he won the Man of the Match award in both the semi-final and the final.

The next season, Dowling scored 107 against Northern Districts, also at home, and was picked to represent New Zealand in the unofficial “Tests” against Australia. He had two decent outings, especially in the second “Test”, where he scored 43 and 40. Dowling was selected for New Zealand’s tours of Australia and South Africa in 1961/62 and got to play the solitary match in the first leg against Western Australia at WACA; he scored 83 not out in the second innings.

Despite his failure, Dowling made his debut in the second Test at New Wanderers after the hosts had won the first at Kingsmead. South Africa piled up 322 aided by John Waite’s 101; Dowling and McGregor saw off the new-ball threat of Peter Pollock and Kenneth Walter. On came “Goofy” Lawrence to take two quick wickets, which started the battle between Dowling and Reid and the South African fast bowlers. They bounced at the batsmen, Reid counterattacked, but Dowling simply stay put. The pair added 76 in 83 minutes before Lawrence removed Reid; and John Guy; and Zinzan Harris.

Dowling captained the New Zealand Test team in 19 consecutive matches from 1968 to 1972. He led New Zealand to its first Test victories over India and Pakistan. New Zealand had been elevated to Test status in 1930; it had taken them 26 years to win a Test; then John Reid won the first three of them as a captain; and Graham Dowling won the next four. He was also the first to win Tests against India (both home and away)

Dowling was your quintessential New Zealand batsman who relied more on concentration and diligence than flair. He was certainly not the best batsman to watch (more so because his strokes, though often well-timed, could not find the gaps), but he was certainly someone who could handle pressure — especially at the top of the order. From 158 First-Class matches Dowling scored 9,399 runs at 34.94 with 16 hundreds - 2,306 of them were in Tests.

Shortly after his return, Dowling scored an emphatic 206 against Wellington at home where nobody else had crossed 35 (nobody else crossed 50 in the entire match) and Canterbury were bowled out for 331, winning by an innings. He had an abysmal home series against England (as did the entire team, as England whitewashed them 3-0).

His finest moment came at Christchurch in 1967/68 when he made a nine-hour 239 that led to New Zealand's first victory against India. It was his first match as captain, and he was the only player to score a double century on his captaincy debut until the feat was equaled by Shivnarine Chanderpaul against South Africa in 2005. At the time, his 239 was the highest Test score for New Zealand. Nevertheless, New Zealand lost the two remaining Tests of the series to go down 1–3. Dowling led New Zealand in 12 Tests in 1969, including three victories. They beat West Indies in Wellington in March and shared the three-Test series 1–1. On a long nine-Test tour from June to November, they lost to England 0–2, shared the series with India 1–1, then beat Pakistan 1–0, New Zealand's first victory in a Test series.

Dowling lost the middle finger of his left hand in 1970 after suffering an injury on the brief tour to Australia in 1969/70. New Zealand went on a tour of Australia competing in a knock-out tournament involving six Australian sides and New Zealand, (where the latter got a direct entry to the semifinal), defeating Melbourne in the final at MCG. Shortly afterwards came the tour match against Australian Universities at Benalla. The two-day match followed the usual slow proceedings; the youngsters scored 169, Dowling declared with a 156-run lead. The match was meandering towards a draw when Dowling relieved Ken Wadsworth (the only specialist wicketkeeper of the side) from his duties behind the stumps and put on the gloves himself.

He summoned Richard Collinge and asked him to go all-out; then came that ball — the one that came at him at a pace far more than he had expected; the ball completely smashed the joint of his left middle-finger; the finger had to be amputated shortly afterwards. It took a year for Dowling to return to mainstream cricket, but later that year he scored 102 in a Plunket Shield match against Central Districts at home and followed it with 99 against Western Australia at WACA. When England came over Dowling’s men lost again at Lancaster Park, and an excellent 104 from Mark Burgess saved the Test at Eden Park.

On the tour to the West Indies in 1971/72 he suffered a back injury and had to return home after the Second Test. It was his last first-class match. He led his side and showed no sign of injury when he scored 124 against West Indies Board President’s XI at Montego Bay, adding 268 for the opening stand with Glenn Turner. Given that the attack comprised of the likes of Bernard Julien and Raphick Jumadeen, there seemed to be nothing wrong with Dowling’s health or form. New Zealand drew the first two Tests at Sabina Park and Queen’s Park Oval. As the team went to Guaracara Park for the tour match that followed, Dowling stayed back at Port-of-Spain for treatment.

New Zealand drew the rubber 0-0 as Congdon took over for the last three Tests. Dowling was not even in a condition to run. He never played another Test. In fact, he never played another First-Class match. It was a cruel blow to such a dedicated man, and to his players for they admired him immensely.

Dowling was a partner in an accounting firm, which enabled him to arrange his work around his absences playing cricket. Dowling was CEO of New Zealand Cricket. In the 1987 New Year Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to cricket. He was also an ICC match referee from 1995 to 2008, officiating in nine Tests and 16 one-day international matches.