Old cricket stories revisited
| Published date | 05 February 2021 |
| Author | Paul Williams |
| Publication title | Horowhenua Chronicle |
Fast forward 100 years, and the Weraroa Cricket Club is still going strong, from the same ground and from a quaint little clubrooms on Oxford St that has inspired paintings.
Old newspaper clippings helped to document how the club was formed, starting with the call for interest of cricketers for a meeting, instigated by the Broughton brothers and Levin identity George France.
From there it was decided unanimously that a club and committee be formed under the name Weraroa Cricket Club and “it is expected this pastime will be taken up keenly in the district this season”, one article said.
The club needed playing gear, and “on account of the high price of material, it was decided to make subscription one pound and one shilling for the season”.
As there wasn’t much time before the first game, players were “requested to pay their subscriptions as early as possible to enable the committee to have everything in readiness to open the season on Wednesday next ...”.
“The club hopes to put two teams on the field, one on the Wednesday and one on the Saturday. Honorary members’ subscription was fixed at 5s. It was decided to admit to membership six schoolboys free.”
For more than a year now a Weraroa Centenary Working Group has worked hard to put on the event and were happy with the numbers attending given the difficulty of international travel due to COVID-19.
Current president Darryl Morgan said a lot of work had gone in to hosting the centenary, including a renovation of the clubrooms and changing rooms.
Centenary Working Group co-ordinator Peter Davies, himself a top batsmen for the club for decades, said he was pleased a host of former club stalwarts were joining current players in celebrating the milestone.
He was joined on the Centenary Working Group members by Julie Harper, Cheryl Nielsen, Shaun Brown, Daryl Morgan, Robbie Janes and Brett Cole, with input from numerous others.
Davies said there were more than 130 tickets sold for what was four days of planned celebrations, starting with a welcome and a game of twilight cricket at Weraroa Domain tonight — clubrooms and bar open.
Davies, who joined Weraroa after moving from Australia in 1981, was heading a group tasked with ensuring the celebrations were a success.
Facilities were given a facelift and a great deal of planning had gone into the centenary, including...
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