A painting of the Weraroa Domain by M.P. Speight in 1996.
Horowhenua's oldest cricket club celebrates its centenary this weekend.
Weraroa Cricket Club was officially formed in 1921. A newspaper advertisement appeared in the Horowhenua Chronicle calling for interested parties to meet at the Wells and Cooper Saloon in Levin.
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. Honourary 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 tracking down some Weraroa old boys. Among the attendees are some life members that committed so much of their lives to supporting the club.
All-time leading run-scorer Trevor Chambers is attending the function. On leaving secondary school, he remembers being interviewed for his first job at the Horowhenua Power Board by Weraroa life member, the late Kevin De Castro.
"He said I could have the job, but only if I played for Weraroa. But I was always going to play for the club anyway," he said.
Chambers would go on to score 7309 runs in the 1980s and 1990s from 280 turns at bat at an average of 29.59. His high score was 170.
He originally started as a batsman but quickly turned his hand to bowling too as a way to keep involved in the game. He ended up taking 501 wickets too.
"Otherwise it was a long day if you got out cheaply," he said.
He fondly recalls healthy rivalry with the only other club in Levin - Levin Old Boys. It meant games were intensely competitive on the field, but everyone was good friends and extremely social off the field.
"We always got on really well afterwards ... it was a great competition to play in. It was the people you played with and played against - and the fun that you had - that kept you coming back," he said.
In the early days he said he learnt a lot from the likes of Gerald De Castro, Peter Hudson and Chris Webb, and also current mayor of Horowhenua Bernie Wanden.
"When I first started the standard of cricket was really, really high," he said.
He also played in Weraroa teams with the likes of Craig Auckram, Steve Carson, Gerald Baines, Carl Trask, Bernie Wanden and Steve Davis. Auckram went on to represent Central Districts, as did Trask, who hold the record for the highest Weraroa score of 196.
Bernie Wanden, a classy top order batsmen in his day who could also bowl too, played many seasons for Weraroa when moving to Levin having previously played 10 years of senior cricket in Wellington, even making Wellington B.
There was never any question of playing for another club.
"My wife [Sharon] was from Levin. She told me I had to play for Weraroa. That was that, "he said.
"I was also working across the road from Gerald De Castro who was at the sports shop, so of course he came over and made himself known."
Wanden was made captain and played 101 innings for Weraroa, scoring 2249 runs. With a fledgling business to run, the introduction of Saturday trading put an end to club cricket for Wanden in his early 30s, otherwise he said he would have played a lot longer.
He also played more than 50 games for Horowhenua, and was in the side that played an international against The Netherlands on Levin Domain, and was a selector for HK for a season.
"It was a very successful era for Weraroa and there was a wonderful mix of experience and youth," he said.
"It was an era where cricket was extremely popular. Club cricket was extremely strong and the cricket here was of a high standard, comparable to any I had played in Wellington."
It was a similar story for club patron K.B. Swain. He arrived to Levin after playing in Naenae, sat down to have his haircut at Tony Ryder's cutting bar, and by the time he left he was a member of the Weraroa.
Swain said there were several players to move from the Hutt Valley and play for Weraroa at the time, including Bob Hamill, Martin Dowman and Murray Hanlon.
But looking back through the club's statistics, there were a few names that stick out with figures that could only be attained through decades of playing.
Kevin De Castro, and later son Gerald, both spent a lifetime playing for Weraroa and made significant contributions off the field too.
De Castro senior could have played even longer but for being restricted by a gunshot wound to the back while serving in World War II, the bullet lodging close to his spine.
His father-in-law George France was one of the founding members of the club and a lifetime patron. His contribution was recognised with the naming of the club's current clubrooms as the George France Pavilion.
The club worked hard to build the pavilion in the 1950s. Previously it was a rickety old clubrooms with no lighting and just enough electricity to boil a jug. After match drinks were often in the dark.
The old clubrooms were never locked as it was full of holes anyway. It burnt to the ground one night in a fire that was said to have been have started by a bird picking up a cigarette butt that was still alight, and taking in back to a nest in the wall.
It paved the way for plans for the current pavilion. For years, former president, the late Basil Netten, held Housie nights on a Monday at the Levin Cosmopolitan Club, with the help of Bill Muir, to raise funds for the new building.
Peter Hudson is the club's all-time leading wicket taker with 978, with Larry Auckram (862), KB Swain (819), Kevin De Castro (809), Gerald De Castro (730), Bruce Martin (613) Ray Hudson (579), C Palmer (519) and Steve Carson (511) others to join the 500-club.
Statistics show wicket-keeper Basil Netten with the record for the most catches for Weraroa, way out in front with 341.
It was Netten, who also had a stint as CD selector, that donated a Massey Ferguson tractor to the club in the 1950s that would become the stuff of legend.
Up until that time K.B. Swain had cared for the Weraroa wicket by hand. In those days each club was responsible for their own wicket, with council contractors mowing the outfield only.
Life became infinitely easier for Swain when Netten donated the tractor. He could be heard whistling as he hooked up the heavy roller for the first time.
"It made a helluva difference," he said.
The farm tyres were changed for smoother road tyres and the same tractor was used right up until the 1990s, locked away each night in a small shed adjacent to the clubrooms. It was even given a coat of grey paint to give it a modern look.
It was said to have no brakes and was started with a crank handle. One afternoon a player went to start it, but as the tractor was in gear, he came bolting from the shed with the tractor in hot pursuit.
The centenary weekend would no doubt be a chance for these stories and more to be revisited and enhanced.
Numerous games were planned, starting with a twilight game tonight, a junior match on Saturday morning to a senior match that afternoon, while an all-comers, JJ and Brucie Memorial Game on Sunday morning promises to be a highlight, with a number of veteran players making themselves available for the game. The final planned game will be Weraroa As playing a HKCA invitational team on the Sunday afternoon. A very full programme.
The main social event is the dinner, with speeches, special presentations, auctions and a band at the Levin Cosmopolitan Club on Sunday night, while a get together on the Monday morning at the clubrooms will involve a farewell cooked breakfast.
During the celebrations the club will set aside a toast to remember absent friends, among them former club vice president Paul Spring, who died of a heart attack in October last year. His son Lochie is a current player in the Weraroa senior side.
An overview of the weekend's programme is listed below:
Friday night: Twilight cricket Game. Welcome drinks and nibbles.
Saturday morning: Junior game and morning tea refreshments.
Saturday afternoon: Competition A team game and afternoon tea refreshments.
Saturday evening: A barbecue evening meal is provided, with raffles and a DJ providing entertainment.
Sunday morning: T20 JJ and Brucie Memorial Game with morning tea refreshments.
Sunday afternoon: Invitation team vs Weraroa As with afternoon tea refreshments.
Sunday night: The main event: Black tie dinner, presentations and speeches, auction with live entertainment till late.
Monday morning: Breakfast and farewells.
Newspaper clippings from Horowhenua Chronicle 100 years ago.
8 Sep 1921: A meeting of those interested in forming a Weraroa Cricket Club will be held in Wells and Coopers Rooms, Oxford Street, on September 9 at 8pm.
9 Sep 1921: A reminder is given of the meeting in Messrs Wells and Cooper's premises this evening of those interested in forming a cricket club for Weraroa. It is expected this pastime will be taken up keenly in the district this season. There should be ample material in Weraroa for the formation of a club which should prove a welcome addition to local sports bodies.
10 Sep 1921: There was a fair attendance at the meeting last evening to consider the forming of a Weraroa Cricket Club. It was unanimously decided to form the club, the election of officers and other business being deferred to a meeting on Wednesday evening next.
13 Sep 1921: A General Meeting will be held at Wells and Cooper Saloon on Wednesday, September 14 at 7.30pm. A full attendance of members and intending members is requested. Business: Election of Officers and General.
7 Oct 1921: At a meeting of the Weraroa Cricket Club on Wednesday, the following officers were elected:
President: F.G.Roe.
Vice-Presidents: Messrs T Bevan, J.M. Milne, W Thompson, J Bebbington, J McLeavey, Ranald McDonald, J MacFarlane and G.H. Martin.
Secretary and Treasurer: C Wells.
Club Captain: J. J. O'Connor.
Delegates to the Association: Messrs G Thomas and JJ O'Connor.
Committee: Messrs J Young, W Harding and G Cooper
Weraroa Cricket Club Life Members: G France, Percy Hudson, J Ryder, D Hemi, K De Castro, Mrs G De Castro, W Creighton, A J Ryder, K Swain, R Hudson, B Netten, G De Castro, P Davies, B Martin, Mr G Tukapua, Mr Peter Hudson, Mr B Cole, Mrs D Morgan, C Trask.
