James Bannerman (cricketer)

James William Hugh Bannerman (20 May 1887 – 23 December 1917) was a New Zealand journalist, historian, cricketer and soldier.

James Bannerman was born in the Central Otago town of Ophir in 1887. He was the eldest of three sons of William Bannerman, a banker with the Bank of New Zealand. The next son, Wilfred, played first-class cricket for Otago. The third son, Ronald, was a flying ace in World War I and an air commodore in World War II.

James attended Southland Boys' High School in Invercargill and Otago Boys' High School in Dunedin, where he was an active member of the school cadet corps.

Bannerman worked as a journalist for the Southland Daily News in Invercargill until 1911, when he took over the management of Bluff Publishing and the editorship of its two papers, the Bluff Press and the Stewart Island Gazette. He wrote three books of regional history: two on cricket, one on shipwrecks.

Bannerman played non-first-class matches for Otago in 1906-07 and 1907-08. Against Southland in 1907-08, batting at number nine, he scored 59 in 40 minutes with three sixes.

Later in 1908 he moved to Invercargill, where he represented Southland. In the final of the inaugural tournament for the Hawke Cup in 1910-11 he opened Southland's batting and scored 40, then opened the bowling in Rangitikei's first innings with Jack Doig and took 6 for 20 as the pair bowled unchanged throughout the innings. He took 5 for 103 in the second innings for match figures of 55–17–123–11. Ten of his victims were bowled. Southland won, becoming the first holders of the Hawke Cup.