History
1880 – 1980
The Club was formed, according to those records that have been maintained, in or around 1880. “The exact date of the Club’s formation will probably never be known…a guess had to be made and 1880-81 is it” It is certain that the Club fielded a team during the 1881-82 season, and an annual meeting of members was held in early September 1882.
Tragically, the Club’s records were lost in 1945 or 1946, perhaps in a fire. This has made the construction of historical records difficult and consequently somewhat contentious, over the years.
There are references in a book, “100 Summers: A History of Wellington Cricket” published in about 1975 by noted cricket historian Don Neely, Wellington, to early cricket matches played among men from Karori, Ohariu, Porirua and Pauatahanui in the 1870s. Karori was characterized as “one of the most enthusiastic of the country clubs.” Matches were played pre-1880 at Campbell’s Paddock, which was the Club’s leased ground until about 1909. Cricket may also have been played at a Mr R. Suisted’s paddock, off Campbell Street. The standard of cricket played before 1890 was not high. Cricket was seen simply as a game; a pastime.
1981 – 2006 The Next Twenty Five Years
Harry Gibbons has just completed a comprehensive review of the last twenty five years activities within the club. You can read Fighting the Good Fight – The Ongoing Tale of the Unicorn by clicking here Fighting The Good Fight.
At our 1980 centennary celebrations and due to the vision of our president at the time, the late Ian Nimmo, The Karori Cricket Foundation was formed. Designed to promote cricket in the Karori area at both junior and senior level, the Foundation has had a major impact on the development of the Karori Cricket Club over the last 25 years. It has fostered cricket in the arena and provided financial assistance to both clubs in times of need.
2006/2007
The promise of recent re-building over the previous two seasons which wound up the fifth 25 year period of the club’s history was partly fulfilled over 2006-07 and with some significant pass marks. The club as a whole took out the Norwood Wellington Club Championship, the first time since its inception in 1977. This award is competed for by every grade team across all clubs and is based on aggregated performances across the season. The Norwood Championship might not be the pinnacle trophy in Cricket Wellington Cricket’s cabinet but it is right up there.
The premiers, senior two’s, 2C A, 1A and the IB side all did their bit towards the championship win as did a raft of individuals. The premiers took out the 20/20 competition for the second year in a row while skipper Lee Edwards won the premier grade bowling aggregate for the third successive season. What more does this player need to do to get a fairer consideration for a provincial contract. The senior two’s ended their competition in third spot after, like the premiers, opening up the season with high hopes and expectations.
2008/2009
Pearce Cup
A season like 2008 – 2009 for the Premiers would normally be simply remembered as a season that we were runners up in the Pearce Cup Final.
But this season will be remembered as much more than that, 2008 – 2009 will be looked upon in the future as the year that the mighty Unicorn awoke from its long slumber.So much has been achieved over recent years it is very hard to put it all into context. From the redevelopment of the ground, to building a new electronic scoreboard, the new clock atop the club house, the financial stability of the club and the growing army of volunteers and generous supporters have all conspired to push KCC into a new era.
KCC has been able to capitalise on this further through the pulling power the club now has to attract promising young players such as Harry Boam, Tom Blundell and Vinnie Ward from Wellington College and who are all representative players.
2009/2010
Karori Cricket Club Trophies and Awards 2009/2010 season.
ALAN GRAHAM SINGLE WICKET
Karori Cricket Club has so far since 2009 held three single wicket tournaments at Karori Park with the Alan Graham Tankard at stake.
Version 1 and Version 3 were won by Premier players, Hamish Templeton and Lee Edwards. Version 2 was won by a lower grade one-day player, NZ volleyball star Simon Petersen.
2010/2011
It was an outstanding 2010-2011 season for the Pearce Cup side. Not only did we win the overall Pearce Cup but we also managed to win the Premier Twenty20 title and the Premier One Day title. This meant it was a clean sweep of titles in Wellington club cricket; this is the first time in Wellington club cricket history that the “treble” has been won by one club. This was well deserved as we were clearly the best team in the competition in any format we played. This is evidence by being so far out in front with the points we had right the way through.
We struggled at Nationals as the triumph of winning the Pearce Cup was not far from our minds; couple this with having to play nine days of cricket on the trot. Everyone was mentally and physically very tired. We tried our hardest but lost three close games which meant we were fifth in the competition and the fifth best one day side in New Zealand.
Next season we have the distinction of defending the above three titles in what was an even better season than the previous years. Last season we won two titles, this season we won three titles and it was the first time Karori have won the Senior Championship (Pearce Cup) in twenty four years and to beat Eastern Suburbs who had won it nine times in a row made it all the more satisfying. Last season was said to be the best Ktown season ever but I think this season we toppled that again. We have set the bar very high for next year where we will once again strive for all four titles.
My thanks to Frosty, Jeffy, and Alan for your support during the season and always being on hand to assist where required. All our supporters for putting up with us and giving us that boost from the sideline thanks also.
A massive thanks to the players for what will live in our memories forever, an unforgettable season where we reached great heights!
Glenn Pocknall, Coach.
