CROQUET OR CRICKET?

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 890, 6 February 1930, Page 10

CROQUET OR CRICKET?

CONTROVERSY AT DEVONPORr DOMAIN BOARD’S DILEMMA Devonport Bomain in a matured effort to please the who play croquet, has caused co’ a siderabie consternation among ,1 1 cricketing fraternity. Devonport cricket oval, one of th» best about the suburbs, has to aceort modate four wickets. The result k that the •boundary” is closer th™ strict rules call for. and in one cs~, is well under 40 yards. The club IT, cheerfully made toe best of circuin stances, relying on a promise of 1 former Domain Board that whenever the leases of certain domain property, fell in. extra land would be available for enlarging the cricket oval. The longed-for time has nearhr rj . rived, the leases of two properties 0 n Cheltenham Road being run out. and tho Domain Board having decided that the houses on tho lands are too gone to be re-let. Last week the board received a depu tation from the Devonport Bowline Croquet Club, to discuss a tropes'" tion from the board that this extra land should be turned into a croquet lawn. This would have permitted ti p bowling club to use land now oc-u pied by the croquet club, and it wati hoped, also, that a second crocuet club, tho Devonport, would agree to coalesco with its sister club and firm a strong club, s well as providing the Devonport tennis players with land now used by the second croquet club. Undethe plan, croquet, bowling, and tennis would all havt•benefited. Mr. F F Masop, for the deputation, stressed th ~ advantage of the plan as viewed bv bowlers. Mrs. Burgess, president of tho Bowling Croquet Club, asked for sufficient land to form two full-sized lawns, in order to permit Devonport to be eligible for tho A grade matche? Tho demand for the second ground caused the contretemps, for it meant that some of the already skimpv cricket ground would have to be taken Tho borough engineer. Mr. A. T Griffiths, at the suggestion of the board, flagged possible sites for the lawns, and the little red flags fluttering at mark points was the first intimation that cricketers had of the projected invasion. And they saw red’ The Auckland Cricket Association was beseeched to help, and last evening the Domain Board received letters from the president, and secretary, and members of the cricket club, protestin'against the cut-tailing of the cricket ground. Board members were reminded that a considerable area of the domain fronting King Edward Parade, now carrying houses, would soon be available as the leases would presentlv expire' The clerk stated that the Mayor, who was in "Wellington, had asked to have the area mentioned vested ln th“ borough as an endowment, for leasing as building sites. After a busy few minutes with a piece of paper s - vice to represent the size of the green" and tho plan of the domain, puzzling out how many times the paper would -go into ’ the suggested croquet area, tho board members gave up the problem, and adjourned the question for a fortnight, until the Mayor returns to relate his conversation with the Minister of Lands, who controls all domains Several members voiced objections to the reducing of the cricket fields