History
London New Zealand Cricket Club was the brainchild of Trevor Campbell who was, in the years after World War 2, the ‘Public Relations Officer’ at the NZ High Commission in the ‘Dominion of New Zealand’ building at 415 The Strand in London.
London at the time was a very different city to that with which we are so familiar. Food rationing was still in force. The coal-fired power stations at Bankside (now the Tate Modern) Lots Road and the giant Battersea Power Station ran 24 hours a day and there were still millions of open fires in people’s home – belching out toxic soot and smoke. The Thames was still a major shipping artery, and a seriously polluted one at that. Much of the city centre had been ravaged by bombs and around St Pauls and elsewhere there remained the ruins of burnt-out buildings
It was into this austere environment that Campbell hatched a plan to create a London-based cricket club for New Zealanders to call their own. He lived in Surrey and had been invited to attend a game in Berkshire in the late 1940’s in which a New Zealand Selection played a local club team and those involved made a weekend of it. He realised the therapeutic benefits to those toiling in the capital offered by weekend trips to England’s green and pleasant land. In his role at the High Commission, he also correctly assessed that the people of the UK were very grateful to New Zealand and its people for the role our country had played in supporting Britain in the war. These two things were the catalysts on which the club was built.
Campbell, encouraged by his neighbour John Ferguson (also from New Zealand,) enlisted the assistance of England’s highly influential Errol (E.R.T.) Holmes. Holmes had been MCC captain in 1935/36 and in 1951 was on the MCC committee. With the blessing of NZ High Commissioner Sir Frederick Doidge and the MCC, invitations were sent to more than 200 notable New Zealanders living in, or associated with the UK.
LNZCC was formed in a meeting at New Zealand House in December 1951. It happened to be one of the worst nights of the infamous ‘London Pea Souper’ fogs, which were in fact deadly smogs made up of toxic industrial waste and freezing winter fog. (A six day long pea-souper in December 1952 was so poisonous it is estimated to have killed 6,000 people.) For those of you of an architectural proclivity, the building as it was at the time – it still stands in 2015 as a branch of Nationwide Bank. The meeting attendees would have walked through this magnificent foyer.
Fired by Campbell’s enthusiasm and determination, the founders established LNZCC with the object of ‘providing the opportunity for its members to play and enjoy cricket in the home of the game and to meet socially’. (The quaint language of the 1950’s showing there.)
As was the case back then, the club's formation was approved by the MCC after formal application was made in early 1952. Legend has it that the immediate response to LNZs application was '...if it's the New Zealanders, there'll be no snags.' With the support of influential men in the game in England and New Zealand, the club got off to a very good start. The first Club Captain was Roger Blunt, a former New Zealand captain. The first President – the foundation stone on which the young club was established - was Errol Holmes. More in The Founders section.
LNZCC has flourished since 1952. The Founders all passed away many years ago, and the club has continued to live through the efforts of volunteers who give their time and energy to making a cricketing home for New Zealanders in the UK. LNZCC now has ‘home’ branches in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The club’s roll-call of LNZCCOBs is extensive and our whakapapa extends to all points of the compass.
LNZCC celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2002 and LNZCCOB Paddy Gaffikin took the time to write a history of the club’s early years – ‘Kiwis on the Common ; a book well worth reading to understand just how many influential members of the London Establishment were involved in the first few decades of LNZ cricket. The Golden Jubilee season was celebrated at The Oval, as was the Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Through the years the numbers of available cricketers has fluctuated but with hard work and the generous hospitality of hosts and friends amongst the clubs we play, and with the continued support of the New Zealand High Commission over the years (we have hosted a function in the High Commission - since the 1960s in The Penthouse of New Zealand House on Haymarket - every year since our formation in 1952), LNZCC continues to thrive into its eighth decade.
Perhaps that is testimony enough that the original ethos of the founders - enjoyable cricket in good company - is the right one.
London at the time was a very different city to that with which we are so familiar. Food rationing was still in force. The coal-fired power stations at Bankside (now the Tate Modern) Lots Road and the giant Battersea Power Station ran 24 hours a day and there were still millions of open fires in people’s home – belching out toxic soot and smoke. The Thames was still a major shipping artery, and a seriously polluted one at that. Much of the city centre had been ravaged by bombs and around St Pauls and elsewhere there remained the ruins of burnt-out buildings
It was into this austere environment that Campbell hatched a plan to create a London-based cricket club for New Zealanders to call their own. He lived in Surrey and had been invited to attend a game in Berkshire in the late 1940’s in which a New Zealand Selection played a local club team and those involved made a weekend of it. He realised the therapeutic benefits to those toiling in the capital offered by weekend trips to England’s green and pleasant land. In his role at the High Commission, he also correctly assessed that the people of the UK were very grateful to New Zealand and its people for the role our country had played in supporting Britain in the war. These two things were the catalysts on which the club was built.
Campbell, encouraged by his neighbour John Ferguson (also from New Zealand,) enlisted the assistance of England’s highly influential Errol (E.R.T.) Holmes. Holmes had been MCC captain in 1935/36 and in 1951 was on the MCC committee. With the blessing of NZ High Commissioner Sir Frederick Doidge and the MCC, invitations were sent to more than 200 notable New Zealanders living in, or associated with the UK.
LNZCC was formed in a meeting at New Zealand House in December 1951. It happened to be one of the worst nights of the infamous ‘London Pea Souper’ fogs, which were in fact deadly smogs made up of toxic industrial waste and freezing winter fog. (A six day long pea-souper in December 1952 was so poisonous it is estimated to have killed 6,000 people.) For those of you of an architectural proclivity, the building as it was at the time – it still stands in 2015 as a branch of Nationwide Bank. The meeting attendees would have walked through this magnificent foyer.
Fired by Campbell’s enthusiasm and determination, the founders established LNZCC with the object of ‘providing the opportunity for its members to play and enjoy cricket in the home of the game and to meet socially’. (The quaint language of the 1950’s showing there.)
As was the case back then, the club's formation was approved by the MCC after formal application was made in early 1952. Legend has it that the immediate response to LNZs application was '...if it's the New Zealanders, there'll be no snags.' With the support of influential men in the game in England and New Zealand, the club got off to a very good start. The first Club Captain was Roger Blunt, a former New Zealand captain. The first President – the foundation stone on which the young club was established - was Errol Holmes. More in The Founders section.
LNZCC has flourished since 1952. The Founders all passed away many years ago, and the club has continued to live through the efforts of volunteers who give their time and energy to making a cricketing home for New Zealanders in the UK. LNZCC now has ‘home’ branches in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The club’s roll-call of LNZCCOBs is extensive and our whakapapa extends to all points of the compass.
LNZCC celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2002 and LNZCCOB Paddy Gaffikin took the time to write a history of the club’s early years – ‘Kiwis on the Common ; a book well worth reading to understand just how many influential members of the London Establishment were involved in the first few decades of LNZ cricket. The Golden Jubilee season was celebrated at The Oval, as was the Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Through the years the numbers of available cricketers has fluctuated but with hard work and the generous hospitality of hosts and friends amongst the clubs we play, and with the continued support of the New Zealand High Commission over the years (we have hosted a function in the High Commission - since the 1960s in The Penthouse of New Zealand House on Haymarket - every year since our formation in 1952), LNZCC continues to thrive into its eighth decade.
Perhaps that is testimony enough that the original ethos of the founders - enjoyable cricket in good company - is the right one.