Northland's twilight cricket organisers Brian Johnston, left, and Peter Crawford stand out in the middle for what could be the last time. Photo / John Stone
Northland's twilight cricket organisers Brian Johnston, left, and Peter Crawford stand out in the middle for what could be the last time. Photo / John Stone
It is a hallmark of sport in Northland but the 41-year long innings of twilight cricket might have just called drinks, permanently.
Organisers Peter Crawford, 83, and Brian Johnston, 73, started the mid-week league in the summer of 1978/79 and have been at the helm ever since. But now that playing numbers have reduced drastically, this may be their last season.
"The future of twilight cricket, it's undecided at the moment," Johnston said, speaking on behalf of the pair.
"There are always people who want to play social cricket and we'd be right behind it, giving people assistance, but whether Peter and I will be involved, we're not sure."
In the early 1980s, twilight cricket in Northland was one of the biggest mid-week cricket competitions in the country with almost 1000 players from 86 teams competing across seven sporting venues and schools in Whangārei.
Only six teams played at Kensington Park at the most recent competition night on Wednesday, marking the consistent decline twilight cricket has been in over the last two decades.
"It's just become a bit of a chore which it never used to be," Johnston said.
"We loved coming every Wednesday night but it's not quite like that now, the teams that we had 30 or 40 years ago, they've moved on."
Peter Crawford, 83, has been an integral member of the Northland cricket community for decades. Photo / John Stone
Along with other key members of the cricketing community, Johnston and Crawford started the Northland cricket trust which had given several thousands of dollars to local cricket initiatives, money which had come from twilight cricket.
"The good thing about it is we've built up the trust which is benefiting every cricket player in Northland, putting funds back into communities," Johnston said.
"It's impossible to figure out how much we gave away because we never kept records of that kind of stuff, we just gave away what we could," Crawford said.
The funds from the competition had also gone towards the development of Northland main cricket venue, Cobham Oval, in the form of an indoor cricket centre and the electronic scoreboard.
Over the years, many New Zealand representative players found their way into the midweek league. Father and son duo, Lance and Chris Cairns played as well as Bryan Young, Bob Cunis and Brendon Bracewell.
Brian Johnston, 73, reflects on the countless memories he and Crawford have had in their 41 years organising twilight cricket in Northland. Photo / John Stone
Crawford and Johnston laughed as they recalled the many memories they had made over the past 41 years. Tales of the manic organisation required in the competition's busier times kept rolling off the tongue, but with the distinct absence of regret or disappointment.
"We've had probably a hundred occasions like that, spending a lot of time driving, getting draws to people," Johnston said.
"But people loved the social side, they would bring barbecues along, bring their families, it was just a really social event."
The pair, who are both life members of Northland cricket, tried to exit the competition about three years ago but were convinced by the players to stay on. Johnston said it was reaching the stage where the competition should be passed on to the next generation.
"There was the rumour going round that Wednesday was the final night and teams rung me to make sure that this wasn't the final, final night," he said.
