Cricket: Expat club plays crucial role for all sorts of Kiwis

Lockwood Smith, Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum and London New Zealand Cricket Club chairman Gerard Walsh. Photo / Gerard Walsh

Fancy a spot of cricket at the Duke of Richmond's estate? How about rolling the arm over at the Honourable Artillery Company barracks? Anyone want to wield the willow in Ibiza?

If you're a member of the London New Zealand Cricket Club these venues are all part of this year's annual fixture list. Okay, Ibiza is an exception - it's the first overseas tour by the club for years - but the LNZCC put an XI on the park at the village of San Jose on the Balearic Isle overnight.

A number of club members attended the Black Caps' England tour reception last week at New Zealand House, hosted by new High Commissioner Lockwood Smith. They weren't hard to spot; resplendent in red, white and blue blazers which might have been designed by putting the national flag through a shredder.

Still, the club has seldom been shy in its outlook since originating in 1951. It's territory that comes naturally for proud expatriate Kiwis in greater London.

Club chairman Gerard Walsh, who joined in 2003, says the group consists of a wide cross-section.

"In the current team we have guys in the financial services industry and IT, a bioscientist and an architect. Most come to us because they want to play on their own terms. There's no commitment to training and it provides a network for New Zealanders away from home.

The club has 23 matches on its British fixture list this season plus one game in New Zealand for old boys.

One fixture against Ripley Cricket Club in Surrey has been going since the club's creation.

Fixture secretary Richard Burgess was a 1998 recruit. He has a couple of highlights: "Going to the Bat and Ball ground [in Hampshire] is a match for anyone interested in the history of cricket. It is the original home of the Hambledon club [established in 1750], which claims to be the game's home. Laws developed there, like adding a middle stump and defining the width of a bat.

"Another one is Hagley Hall in Worcestershire which is played on the land of the former Governor-General Lord Cobham's family. There's even a thatched pavilion and deer grazing in the fields."

The original LNZCC members sought the advice of the Marylebone Cricket Club about setting up. According to club folklore they were told: "If it's New Zealand, there are no snags."

Former internationals have featured, the first being original club captain Roger Blunt who toured England in 1931. He was the first New Zealander to make a first-class triple century. Martin Donnelly, John R Reid, Sir Richard Hadlee and Mark Richardson are among others. Glenn Turner remains vice-patron. England test players Peter May, Jim Laker and Ken Barrington donned the colours, as did South African Graeme Pollock.

This week there was a conundrum for many members about whether to risk the forecast rain at Lord's or go to Ibiza where at least they'd be guaranteed a game.

Walsh says one personnel problem solved itself at a local Ibiza bar. "We got talking to a Kiwi over lunch who agreed he'd come down to play, so we should have an XI."