Gareth Hopkins

Gareth James Hopkins (born 24 November 1976) is a New Zealand former international cricketer. A wicket-keeper, he played Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International cricket for the New Zealand national cricket team between 2004 and 2010.

Hopkins was born at Lower Hutt in the Wellington Region in 1976 and was educated at Taupo College. He played age-group cricket for Northern Districts and played for the national under-19 side before making his senior representative debut for Northern Districts against Central Districts during the 1995–96 season.

Cricket career
A wicket-keeper who was described as a "staunch" batsman and as "uncompromising" in his approach to batting, he moved to play for Canterbury for the 1998–99 season. After five seasons he moved to Otago for four seasons before finishing his domestic career playing for Auckland between the 2007–08 and 2013–14 seasons. The side won the domestic List A and Twenty20 competitions during the 2010–11 season and Hopkins finished his career with over 350 top-level domestic appearances.

Hopkins made his international debut in 2004, deputising for Brendon McCullum as New Zealand's wicket-keeper in five One Day Internationals during the tour of England. He spent much of his international career as McCullum's back-up, making his Test debut in 2008 following when McCullum was unable to play due to injury. Following a successful 2007–08 season he was awarded a central contract by New Zealand Cricket and played most of his four Test matches, 25 ODIs and 10 T20Is over the following three seasons. "Ordinary" form in 2010–11 saw him dropped from the central contracts list and he did not represent the national side after the end of 2010.

Post-cricket career
Hopkins became a financial adviser with his wife since 2014. They have moved to reside in Tauranga.