NZ's First Cricket Match 1832 in Paihia

Kiwis enjoying watching the World Cup cricket matches in 2015 could cast themselves back to 1832 when the first recorded cricket match took place in New Zealand, said Heather Ayrton at a recent meeting of Heritage Northland at The Kaikohe Pioneer Village and Museum.

That first game was played at Paihia on the beach called Horotutu. It was in December of that year, after cricket gear sent for by Rev. William Williams arrived at the mission, that two groups of students celebrated the end of school by playing a cricket match on the beach.

“The match was not your normal eleven a side but composed a field that was estimated to have been between 40 and 50 people,” says Heather.

“The match was also interesting in that it was truly a bi -cultural affair with families from the missionaries and Tai Tokerau rangatira taking part. It is recorded in his diary that Edwin Fairburn successfully scored a run when the Rev. William Williams bowled, but the next bowler laid his wickets flat.”

The next recorded match took place in 1835 at Te Waimate Mission Station – the Heritage New Zealand property in Waimate North set up by the Church Missionary Society to spread the Christian message and European farming techniques among local Maori.

The recorder of this event was none other than pre-eminent scientist Charles Darwin who was staying at the Mission at the time.

Darwin recalls the scene in his book The Voyage of the Beagle:

“Several young men redeemed by the missionaries from slavery were employed on the farm... In the evening I saw a party of them at cricket: when I thought of the austerity of which the missionaries are accused I was amused by observing one of their sons taking an active part in the game,” he wrote.

Reading between the lines of Darwin’s account, it seems likely that cricket had been played at Te Waimate well before the game he watched.

“What these accounts show is that Northland was where cricket began in New Zealand,” sayHeather.

This summer, or next, cricket fans should take time out and play a game on Horotutu beach to celebrate its beginning in New Zealand,” says Heather.

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