West Coast cricket team was a cricket team nominally representing the West Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, but actually from Whanganui.[1]
West Coast appeared twice in recorded cricket. The first match was a first-class match against Wellington in 1879 at the Basin Reserve.[2] Captained by George Anson, the team won its only appearance in first-class cricket by 6 wickets. In the low-scoring match, William Barton scored 75 not out in West Coast's first innings; the next-highest score in the match was 26.[3] The team's second appearance came in a one-day match against Wellington in 1882.[4] The New Zealand captain and cricket historian Dan Reese later wrote: "For a couple of years ... Wanganui cricket reached first-class standard, chiefly on account of Barton, then the best batsman in New Zealand, being resident there. But neither before nor since have they been first-class."[5]
A West Coast Cricket Association was formed in 1888, based in Wanganui and including Hāwera and Feilding.[6] It lapsed in the 1890s, and never fielded a representative team. It should not be confused with the South Island's West Coast Cricket Association, formed around the same time, based in Greymouth, which is still in existence.[7][8]
References
edit- ^ "Wellington v. Wanganui: Second Day". New Zealand Times. XXXIV (5847): 2. 25 December 1879. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ "First-Class Matches played by West Coast". CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ "Wellington v West Coast, 1879". CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ "Other Matches played by West Coast". CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ Reese, Dan (7 October 1913). "Cricket in New Zealand". Evening Star: 8.
- ^ "West Coast Cricket Association". Wanganui Chronicle. XXXI (11336): 2. 20 September 1888. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ "West Coast (South Island)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ "West Coast Cricket Association". sporty.co.nz. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
External links
edit- West Coast (North Island) at CricketArchive