Keeping Score: Butcher, Baker, But No Candlestick-maker, Cricket 1884

The Star, Issue 5194, 27 December 1884, Page 3

"A cricket match was played, on the Rangiora cricket ground yesterday, Publicans v. Butchers and Bakers. H. Archer captained the former, and Mr T. Dench the latter. At the conclusion of the game, one score sheet gave the Publicans the victory by two runs, and the other, their opponents by three. The game, therefore, remains undecided."

Won, lost, tied, drawn, these are the accepted outcomes of a cricket match. But undecided?

One can conjecture as to the cause for the scoring discrepancy, with alcohol probably implicated in the scorers' inattention to accuracy.

Kuaka recalls helping make up numbers on a side playing Sunday pub cricket while in his teens. The novel innovation in pub cricket was that every third wicket was a "beer wicket" where batsmen and fielding side of legal age retired to the pavilion for a beverage. Minors were provided with a lemonade (7 Up for today's youth).

The news report is silent on the matter of why the candlestick makers were not invited to make up the butcher & baker side. (You need to know your nursery rhymes to get the reference).

Another Day at the Cricket - Rangiora Oval

Rangiora's Oval, December 30, 2008

A splendid ground to watch cricket on a hot, calm day in Rangiora, Canterbury, New Zealand. A little bit more shade would be nice, but Canterbury Country Cricket Association is working on it.

The home side, the Canterbury Wizards lost by 4 wickets to Northern Districts. A result that I called correctly after I thought Canterbury posted too low a score and which displeased my eldest brother! Apologies for a sloppy cut & paste editing job, but all I could manage on-the-road...

Christchurch Past & Present #13 - Rangiora

Ashley Street, Rangiora

Some of us plan to be at the cricket in Rangiora today, a small town a short distance north of Christchurch.

Here are some views of Rangiora about a century ago. They were mailed back to England by a new immigrant involved in the retail tailoring and clothing industry.

High Street, Rangiora

The "x" on the Ashley Street postcard view marks where he lived while in Rangiora, the "x" on the far right in the High Street view, the shop he worked in. He later moved north to Tauranga and then Auckland to complete his time in the retail trade before leaving, perhaps, to return to England.

The Post Office, Rangiora