Shona deLatour cutting the ribbon to open the club.
By Michelle Goodman
Against the backdrop of the Ruahine Ranges, under cloudy skies, a mighty battle recently took place on the Makaretu sports field in Ashley Clinton.
A crowd of community members gathered to participate and support friends and family members as the field re-opened after many years in recess.
The sports field, loaned to the community by the White family, has significant roots as a community venue with records showing a club starting there as early as 1913.
Local historian Wendy Anderson was able to retrieve newspaper clippings showing the annual sports day hosted events including woodchopping, the greasy pig race and various horse events like the cigar and umbrella race.
Back in the early 1900s the sports day was used as a fundraiser with proceeds being donated to the Wounded Soldiers Fund and a donation being made to St Hilda's Orphanage in Otane.
In 1923, the Governor General of New Zealand, Lord Jellicoe, attended the 10th anniversary celebrations along with club patron Sir George Hunter who was the local MP.
The sports club was dissolved in 1952, and since then the field has been used for many pet days, pony events and school sporting celebrations, retaining its connection with the community.
The newly formed Sherwood Cricket Club Inc has breathed new life into the field by installing a cricket pitch and clubhouse on the site of the old sports ground with locals Andy Hunt named as club president and Tom White as club captain.
The Sherwood Cricket Club was officially opened on Sunday, November 8 with a ribbon cutting by club patron Shona deLatour, then the inaugural game between Ashley Clinton and Makaretu teams was underway.
Scorekeeper Hilton Ellingham supervised the toss for the game in front of team captains Willie White [Makaretu] and Howard Pedersen [Ashley Clinton]. Ashley Clinton won the toss and chose to field.
The game was presided over by umpires Graeme Annear and Larry White.
An exciting afternoon followed with much laughter and good sportsmanship. The final score was Ashley Clinton 91 to Makaretu 56.
Howard was pleased to accept the winning trophy, a handcrafted cricket bat, from Larry White and he promised that another game to challenge the title wouldn't be far away.
Bunnings' 3ha Hastings land remains unused after failed store bid due to fertile soil.