In March 2017 the Christchurch City Council announced the demolition of the Lancaster Park stadium, which had been severely damaged in the February 2011 earthquake and unused since. This month the seats and other fittings in the stadium are being removed and sold. Demolition of the stands will begin in December 2017 and take a year to complete.
Many people will retain sporting memories of this famous ground. My memories of the park are indelibly linked to growing up in Christchurch during the 1960s and to my love of cricket. Six cricket matches in particular still hold vivid memories for me.
Canterbury v Auckland, 25 – 27 December, 1961
In May 1961, when I was nine, my family shifted from Te Aroha to Christchurch. The 1961-62 Plunket Shield cricket season began on Christmas Day 1961 when Canterbury hosted Auckland at Lancaster Park. The following day my father took me to the park in the afternoon – my first visit to Lancaster Park and my first experience of first class cricket.
Watching sport was a highly unusual activity for Don who had no understanding of cricket at all; I later realised he had gone to the ground to talk theology with Malcolm Wilson. The Rev. Malcolm Wilson, known as “Mac” Wilson, was the Presbyterian minister of Knox Church in Christchurch. Mac had become Don’s friend and mentor while Don was studying for the ministry, had officiated at Don and Anne’s wedding in Timaru in 1950, and then baptised me two years later. I am named after this gentle, kindly, learned man who loved cricket.
I still recall the day – not for the theology which held as little interest for me as cricket for Don, but for the spectacle in the middle. I was hooked on the sport straight away, fascinated by every individual piece of action. Perhaps Mac had an inkling of this too: he sent me his copy of the official programme (cost 1/-) as a souvenir.
As an aside, Auckland won the match outright on the third day by eight wickets. And a nine-year old boy discovered a passion for the sport.
At that time the enlightened Canterbury Cricket Association gave school-age cricketers free season tickets to first class matches at Lancaster Park. In the following seasons I used to ride my bike to the ground, spend the day there watching cricket, often talking to Mac and Isobel Wilson (she knitted), claiming a refund of threepence on every empty bottle left by patrons, buying myself lunch with the proceeds, and returning home sometimes having made money. The park became a second home over a decade of summers.
Canterbury v Auckland, 27 – 29 December 1965
By the time I turned 13, I had taught myself to score. In 1965 I bought a score book from Whitcombe and Tombs, gave it to myself for Christmas, and scored the entire Canterbury v Auckland match that year. So as not to miss a single delivery, I would arrive at the ground in good time, find a seat always looking down the pitch, and set out my pens and coloured pencils along the bench beside me. Scoring appealed to my already well developed sense of neatness and accuracy; it also taught me at a young age to concentrate for long periods of time.
In their first innings Auckland made 321, most of the top order making runs. They then had Canterbury on the ropes at 23 for 5, but Canterbury inched their way to 287, Dave Gallop making 124. Bartlett, Motz and Taylor then dismissed Auckland for 129, leaving Canterbury to score 164 to win the match. After a sound opening partnership, wickets fell regularly on the final day: 1 for 68 became 5 for 99. Tension built around the ground, singles greeted with applause, silence punctuated with groans as another wicket fell. At 7 for 130, the game was in the balance, Taylor and Bartlett trying hard to get Canterbury home. Taylor dismissed at 147, with only John McIntyre and Graeme Henry to come (yes, the future All Black coach, his debut match for Canterbury). And then Bartlett decided to take on John Sparling, who had already taken six wickets. Twelve from the Sparling over, including a huge six which smacked into the concrete stand just to my right. A couple of singles off Cunis and Canterbury were home with two wickets to spare. Every ball and every run carefully recorded, and the emotion of the tight finish engraved forever in my memory.
Canterbury v The Australians, 17 – 20 February, 1967
The Australian team that toured New Zealand in 1967 was called The Australians because it was not their official test team, which was touring South Africa at the same time. The Australians were just the second Australian team to come to New Zealand in 21 years. Their test team had played in New Zealand in 1946 and beaten New Zealand so convincingly in the single test that their test team did not return here until 1974. The Australians were, however, a strong side that included a number of experienced test players, especially among the batsmen. They played the provincial teams and four matches against New Zealand though these were not recognised as tests.
Their second match was against Canterbury at Lancaster Park. The Australians had a 23 run advantage after both sides had completed their first innings. In the afternoon session on the second day, Canterbury gained the upper hand through a stunning spell of fast bowling by the New Zealand fast bowler, Dick Motz. The Australians started their innings steadily reaching 56 for 1 when Motz came back for a second spell. He bowled possibly the best spell of fast bowling I can remember, dismissing Booth, Cunningham, O’Neill, Burge and Sheahan and reducing the Australians to 66 for 6. They were bowled out for 156, Motz taking 7 for 56, and 10 for 128 in the match. Canterbury then needed 180 to win the match which they achieved on the third day, winning by four wickets.
The cricket writer for The Press, Dick Brittenden, reported a Canterbury supporter exclaiming “Sic transit gloria mundi” as he left the ground. It was indeed a glorious result and, as a student myself of Latin, I learned that Canterbury cricket spectators are a knowledgeable bunch!
New Zealand v India, 22 – 27 February 1968
As time has gone by I increasingly enjoy the subtleties of cricket – the art of fine spin bowling, the beauty of the straight drive, the athleticism of an outstanding catch, but sheer pace is frequently the most thrilling aspect of the sport.
The fastest spell of bowling I remember at Lancaster Park was in the second test against India in 1968. Gary Bartlett took 6 for 38 in India’s second innings to bowl New Zealand to their third test victory. On the fourth day of this test he bowled extremely quickly on a very good batting surface. New Zealand had batted first and Graham Dowling scored 239, at that time the highest test score by a New Zealand batsman. India made 288 in reply and then 301 following on. Bartlett’s figures in that innings were the best by a New Zealand bowler in a test up to that time.
Bartlett had a loping stride on his run up that belied the pace he was able to generate through an explosive bowling action; this led some to question the legality of his action. The umpires in this test were Fred Goodall and Dick Shortt, both of whom I was to get to know some years later. On the last day Fred had to no-ball Abid Ali for deliberately throwing the ball – a petulant protest at Bartlett’s action. I also met Bartlett in 1995 when he was the bowling coach of the Central Districts team and he believed that he bowled as quickly in that test as he had earlier in his test career in South Africa in 1961/62.
New Zealand v West Indies, 13 – 17 March 1969
My mother, meticulous record keeper that she was (she would have made a fine scorer), noted in 1968 that I was 6’ ½” tall at the age of 15 ½. I had just gone through 18 months of rapid growth, with still another 2” of growth to come. I was permanently hungry and, having little idea where my arms and legs ended, uncoordinated and clumsy. On a sports field the performance never quite matched the mental image. At the start of the 1968/69 summer, when growing up gave me a spell, I was able to put more of my off-spinners on a length, and from a height, and make a contribution to the team.
The greatest player in the world in this decade was the West Indian all-rounder Gary Sobers. He captained this 1969 West Indies team to New Zealand; I was looking forward to seeing the great man in the flesh.
The test at Lancaster Park was the third in the series and both sides had won one of the previous two tests. When I got home from school at the end of the first day, I was pleased that Sobers had not yet batted – I would have the chance to watch him in the weekend. Ah, but how the great men can sometimes flatter to deceive! Sobers: b Motz 0, in and out in less than five minutes, while Seymour Nurse continued stylishly from 122 to 258 in his final test match. Sobers then bowled just eight overs without success in New Zealand’s first turn at bat. How sport can be cruel, even for spectators!
But who was that young man at cover point? All of 6’ 4” tall, thin and gangly, arms that reached to his knees, loping round the outfield pouncing on the ball like a panther, throwing the stumps down underarm from 30 metres. This was a man I could relate to – Clive Lloyd, alias “Supercat”. I had found a new hero!
And it was during this match that I had my last conversation with Mac Wilson; he died of multiple sclerosis in the middle of that year.
In 1970 I moved to Dunedin to start university studies. Wonderful days at Lancaster Park were not all over, but became increasingly rare as I never again lived permanently in Christchurch.
Canterbury v Wellington, 27 – 30 January 1997
I was delighted to be appointed to a first class match on Lancaster Park in 1997; it felt like a return to my home ground. Craig McMillan made 157 and Canterbury won the match by an innings and 32 runs.
The memorable aspect of this match was the installation of lighting around the ground for day/night cricket. The contractors had to wait three days for calm conditions: the wind dropped sufficiently on the fourth day. An enormous crane raised the banks of lights to the top of the four columns with great precision so that a team of workmen was able to bolt them into place. As I gazed up at the workers from square leg, I felt very happy to be on the ground – I have never enjoyed heights.
Lancaster Park was bought from the landowner, Benjamin Lancaster, in 1882 for sport purposes. Much of our national sporting history is associated with this piece of turf: New Zealand’s first cricket test was played there in 1930, Peter Snell broke the world 800 metre record on its track in 1962, many memorable cycling events took place on its asphalt track before the First World War, and it hosted many famous rugby tests.
The demolition of the facilities this year will not destroy many sporting memories: with the help of that now battered scorebook, mine seem as fresh as when they happened.
