OBITUARY: John Howell | Bay of Plenty Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Bay of Plenty

One of New Zealand cricket's most dedicated administrators, Tauranga's John Howell, died on Wednesday after a short illness. He was 67.

Howell is survived by his wife, Merline, and sons Llorne - who played 12 one-day internationals for New Zealand in 1998 - and Glynn, who also played first class cricket. Howell and his sons represented five of the six domestic provinces in New Zealand.

Howell was New Zealand Cricket's first national coaching director, taking up the position in 1984 and serving in that role until 2003.

During his time with NZ Cricket he was instrumental in the establishment of the high performance centre at Lincoln University, the creation of the New Zealand cricket coaches' association and was heavily involved in the development of high performance coaches.

He was also a domestic player for Central Districts, playing in the Plunket Shield competition between 1966/67 and 1972/73, where he helped his side to three championship titles.

He was a handy right-arm medium pace bowler and took 82 wickets during his 34 match career. Howell also played five one-day games for Central Districts between 1970/71 and 1972/73.

After he moved on from New Zealand Cricket he created the Howell Cricket Academy in Te Puna. The academy stood by the belief that everybody deserves a chance at receiving coaching.

"John invested his life into cricket and made a real difference by his efforts," NZ Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said.