History of Cricket in Waimate
This look at the history of cricket in the Waimate District and how we have got to where we are today is not meant to be the most accurate account but where possible is based on available information and records which have been kept. My special thanks must go to the Centennial Committee of 1982 who put together a history at that time and much of the following information has been quoted from the “100 NOT OUT” publication written for the Centennial by Dave Searle. Please bear with me as I acquire more recent records since 1982 as not only has the Honours Board not been updated recently I am having trouble acquiring some years minutes. I hope however for cricketing buffs that this history will provide a good read. As photos are acquired, historical or other I will add them to a photo page. If you have any you wish to see in here please do not hesitate to contact me.
THE OPENING OVERS 1882-1941
(By Don Horsnell)
Cricket in the Waimate County probably started in the Otaio area in about 1889 by English Public School workers in the area.
The first Otaio team played on a pitch on Messrs. A.Boyle and W.Reeves’ property next to Messrs Martin’s farm on the north side. The distance of travel didn’t deter players from enjoying a game of cricket; horse and trap was by far the quickest form of transport then. Otaio and Waimate teams played games on Mr George Manchester’s paddock when full teams could be fielded. A proper pitch at Otaio was to be prepared by Messrs. Teschmaker, Armitage and Boyle for matches with Oamaru, Waimate, Makikihi and Burkes Pass.
By 1887 a Waimate team went to Timaru by coach driven by Mr J W Freeman and played Timaru with disastrous results. The defeat was revenged the next year. The Waimate team was Messrs J. S. D’Emdeen, F.W.Bradshaw, L Hutt, J W Freeman, H Mann, P Grant, Phil Richards, H Lovegrove, G A Manchester, E M & J Clissold. The team returned by coach arriving home in the early hours of the morning. The next captain of Waimate was Mr F Stemson who afterwards played for Auckland for many years.
Mr E C Studholme was club captain for twenty years followed by Mr W H Hamilton and Mr C Goldstone who was a great enthusiast and did a lot for the club and game, while Mr N Thomas was the star player for several years. Mr E C Studholme has been known to walk to Timaru and back for a game of cricket.
In 1920 when Saturday half-holiday was given a trial in Waimate a team was entered in the South Canterbury competition. Mr W G Tweedy was president and club captain for that season. The team became runners-up in the competition. Two members, Messrs Tweedy and Weir, were selected to play for South Canterbury against North Otago and did very well; Tweedy making 80 and Weir getting the best bowling average. The teams in the competition were Timaru boys High School, C.F.C.A., Old Boys, Geraldine and Waimate.
In 1921 the Willowbridge Club was formed and played their games on the school ground. The Waimate high School were granted permission for school teams to play on Victoria Park in 1922, hoping that a district competition would soon start. Friendly games were played between Willowbridge, C.F.C.A., Waimate, Studholme, High School, Morven, Union (Oamaru) and Albion (Oamaru). These continued until about 1930-31. Some of these teams were arranged by one or two enthusiasts in each area as there is no record of any clubs being formed.
In April 1932 a meeting was called to form an association in Waimate by Mr E C Studholme. In October the association was formed and those elected to office were Chairman: D Keyes; Vice-chairman: S Cox; Secretary: A Sawell. Affiliation was fifty cents per club. Waimate, two teams, High School, Willowbridge, Morven, Redcliff and Glenavy were the teams entered. Waimate B won the competition from Glenavy.
In 1933-34 the C.F.C.A. took Willowbridge’s place and played for a few seasons. Playing for Waimate in this season Mr N A Rattray scored what is believed to be the first century in Waimate. There were ten more centuries made up to the end of the 1941 season. During this period many good cricketers played in Waimate providing a good example to the younger players especially when they were taken on social games on Sundays and holidays. Many a tale could be told of games played at Kurow, Duntroon, Waimate, Oamaru, Morven, Palmerston and Otiake. The war that followed this period spoilt the progress of many good players but better times and more leisure made for better cricket after the war. Thus ended a very interesting period of cricket in Waimate.
THE SECOND DAY’S PLAY
1946 TO 1956
During this period cricket really came of age in Waimate.
The new players in the area sure provided a sparkle to all games. To join the locals, C Richardson, G Wilson, E Wilson, A Hassal, O Johnstone, I Schrader, R Barlow, J Guy and E Smith came names like J Fitzgerald, R Wilson, A Bilcliff, A Calder, R Harley, D Tiddy, D Scott, G Hammond and J O’Brien who provided ability well above the average and started coaching schools to assist boys to acquire the basics of the game. Thirty centuries were recorded in this period as well as nine hat tricks and many other examples of good cricketing ability.
Pitches, grounds and pavilions were provided sometimes by a local authority or by the clubs themselves. The advent of concrete pitches, especially in the country areas, probably helped more than anything else to provide a springboard for some great performances.
The Waimate Association organised representative matches against South Canterbury, North Otago, Waihemo and Waitaki Associations and these provided a great chance for players to make many great friendships.
Cricket has always had its known characters, you know, the fast bowler who always had a cloud of dust behind him or the appealing bowler or poor Dave who tripped or the batsman who couldn’t hear or didn’t see the umpire’s decisions.
Cricket clubs have always had their workers and there were two or three in Waimate during this period. Albie and Jim, two well-known characters, were recognised for their work in preparing grounds for Saturday play, until one day they decided to watch from the pub window their fellow players going past to the grounds. When Jim and Albie arrived all they heard was why wasn’t the pitch mowed, the boundary flags or the gear brought out. They laughed and sat down to see what happened. When the gear was found and the game started thirty minutes late, some team members got the message loud and clear.
In October 1946 delegates from Waimate, Morven, Old Boys and High School Clubs met to commence cricket under an association run by Mr A Guy, president and Mr D Keyes as secretary. The selectors were Messrs A Guy and W Duckett. The Waimate/Old boys combined club entered two teams with Morven and High School one each. Some good players belonged to these clubs such as the Fleming brothers, (Charlie, Sid, Tom and Ray), C Barber, J Jones, C Richardson, E and C Wilson, D McKay, W Miller, D McInnes, A Lochart and J Fitxgerald.
The wickets were not very good probably because there was insufficient time for proper preparation. As the years went by more clubs were formed and joined the association. In 1949 Glenavy entered and Old Boys played two teams then in 1950 Willowbridge joined in. Later on Arno and Northern started clubs making eight teams altogether.
Some big scores were recorded, one in particular being the 611 runs scored in four and three-quarter hours when Old Boys and Morven met in 1949. Both A Hassal (Morven) and C Barber (Old Boys) scored centuries while N Toomey made 70. Colin Barber and Jim fitxgerald made many good scores and took a lot of wickets for the Old boys Club in this period. Stan Williams who played for the Waimate Club was another well performed player in this era-a slow left arm bowler he took many wickets. Arthur Cutler who played for Glenavy was a polished cricketer with both bat and ball, did a lot of schoolboy coaching and played for southland and Otago as well as umpiring for Shield matches later. When we add players like I Schrader, R Wakefield, D Tiddy and R Wilson to those mentioned above it can be seen that an improvement in the standard of cricket was noticeable in this interesting period of 1946-56.
THE LAST DAY’S PLAY
1956-71
This section of our century probably produced the best players and it saw the demise of the sub-union competition which had provided cricket sometimes of a fairly high standard. Some clubs had too many good players and this probably hastened the end of inter-club play. Lack of interest by the younger males in cricket saw some teams finding it hard to field full teams. Pitches and the clubrooms that clubs provided for players were good and a big improvement on those of earlier times. Fifty centuries were scored up to the end of 1967 showing that the players were certainly going for the shots. Ian Schrader playing for Arno made 205, which will probably be the highest score made by a Waimate player. During the 1967-68 season, Tony Herbert playing for Morven scored five centuries and a thousand runs in one season with an average of 81.2, good going for afternoon cricket. The season produced fifteen centuries in all, the most in any season during the Association’s history. Two games produced over 200 runs for one wicket. With all the big hitting and large scores some bowlers still managed to get hat-tricks, eight in all. Afternoon cricket was really limited over cricket without restrictions, two good captains could make for very interesting cricket.
Some good cricketers played in this period, some local, and some imported. Ian Schrader was one of the higher scoring batsmen, scoring eight centuries in this period including one double century. Jim Cruickshanks was another good batsman getting six centuries. After 1965 John Wilson scored six centuries and also played for South Canterbury as did Bruce Robb. Some others who have served clubs well over many years include D Scott, R Wilson., R Brown, D Tiddy, B Davidson, L McLauchlan, R Barlow, W Shaw, C Wilkinson, D McInnes and M Neilson. Special mention should be made of Jim Fitzgerald of Old boys. He made two centuries in 1951 and completed his last one in 1971 as well as taking a lot of wickets with his fast medium bowling. Jack O’Brien, Alan Rainey, Robin Brown, Bob Wilson, Tony Herbert, Lyn McLauclin and Brian Davidson all recorded hat-tricks in this period of our history. Other bowlers who performed well were B Richardson, J Cartwright, J Smith, J Allnut, C Verity, S Pullar, W McKenzie, D McCulloch, D&M Tiddy, E Hawke, C Wilkinson and D Trvatham. As other sports gained popularity, such as softball, pony clubs and water skiing and boating, the numbers playing cricket fell away.
Gone are the days of the Old Boys and Waimate clubs calling into the pubs on the way to play a country team for some players to make up their numbers. Gone also are the fielders going backwards over the top wire on boundary fences while attempting to catch a big hit or the new cricketer who thought that protectors were worn on the outside of his trousers not on the inside.
Some social games are still played but most of the regular social games have ceased, mores the pity, but with the price of gear for the game it is impossible to borrow it for fun games. Some of New Zealand’s top cricketers have played in Waimate in these social games and it is pleasing to see that two of our best New Zealand present players will be seen here in our centennial game. This should create some interest in our younger cricketers.
The alterations to the rules over the last twenty years or so to create spectator appeal have made the limited over games very popular especially for television viewing.
So we close a very interesting period in our district’s cricket and we only hope that the next century brings as much pleasure and satisfaction to our cricket enthusiasts as the first one did.
THE WINDING UP OF THE OLD ASSOCIATION
Due mainly to the decline in the membership of most clubs it was decided at a special meeting to wind up the then Waimate Sub-Association. A new club was formed under the name of Waimate and two teams were entered in the South Canterbury competition. One in the senior grade and another in second grade. Because of their proximity to Oamaru, Glenavy decided to continue as a club and entered a team in the North Otago second grade competition and High School entered a team in the South Canterbury third grade competition. So out of the six remaining clubs, which were Northern, Morven, Glenavy, Waimate, Old Boys and High School four teams were salvaged.
THE SUCCESS OF THE CLUB IN TIMARU
The first senior team was captained by Brian Davidson, a South Canterbury rep. player who had transferred to Waimate the previous season. The first game was against Timaru and the full team was Dougal Scott, Ted Hawke, john Wilson, Ian MacKintosh, Mick Laming, Terry Eathorne, Rod Glover, Owen Richardson, Lyn McLauchlan, Grant Fraser and Brian Davidson.
Although dismissed for low scores in this first match, the team improved as the season progressed. The highlight perhaps, being the return match against Timaru when Waimate were left to score 88 runs in short time, which they did of only ten overs, thanks mainly to a hard hit 50 not out by Ian MacKintosh.
The first second grade team, captained by Dave Searle, comprised Barry Harrison, Norm Willetts, Ian Hansen, Bill McKenzie, Dave Cochrane, Les Brown, John Allnutt, Brian Caird, Russell Kircher and Jim Thompson. Although defeated in this game, played at Albury, the team performed very well for most of the season and led the competition after the first round. A fall off of players after Christmas contributed to the lack of success in the second round. Ian Hansen became the first player to score a century in the new club.
In 1975 it was considered that Timaru Boys High would be “out of their depth” in senior and Celtic were invited to enter a team in their place. This was Waimate’s most successful year in senior and they finished in third place.
With Temuka winning the second grade competition in 1978 and because Waimate finished last in senior (for the first time) the frustration of being relegated to second grade began in 1979 when Waimate, after finishing last in senior, were relegated when Temuka won the second grade.
1980 was once again a happy season with the A team winning their way back into the senior grade. Several promising young players were introduced and although performing with credit they could not help the team sufficiently enough to keep off the dreaded bottom place. “Relegated again”.
1981 was the most successful season for the club to date. All five teams finished their respective grades no lower than third place. Second A, Presidents and Fourth grades all winning their competitions, while the third grade finished third and Second B were runners-up.
