A BOWLING BISHOP

Te Aroha News, Volume XLI, Issue 6603, 23 May 1925, Page 5

A BOWLING BISHOP

(By Te Ngakura in Aussie.)

Some strange cricket matches are witnessed by tourists who leave the beaten track when “doing” the North Island of New Zealand. The other day the Bishop of Waiapu, whose stamping ground covers Hawke’s Bay and runs away up the East Coast, was paying his usual visit to the Tokomaru Bay area. He happened along just when the yearly fixture, Mata v. Tokomaru, was materialising. Toko was a man short and deeply grieved, for players were short. • Somebody whispered that “the Bish” was a cricketer. A deputation followed. Yes, he’d be glad to have a game. When the teams assembled, behold, the Bishop, was elected captain. He played a good game, but was beaten by a breakback sent down by one of his own clergy, the Rev. Tamahori. But the Bishop had revenge. He in turn bowled Tamahori. And the Tokos won. This episode is a reminder of the free and easy way in which Admiral Jellicoe used to wander around our back country what time he was Governor. He delighted to go fishing, but he had a passion for cricket, and was never so happy as when he captained a scratch team outback. One time he arrived in a Maori settlement when the cricket match, an inter-tribal battle, was the big fixture. He was delighted when the tribe asked him to play and captain the team. His A.D.C. captained the rival team —and beat the Admiral. “But it was a damned good game!” said the man of Jutland in telling the story later. “Fancy being the skipper of a full team of Maoris! I had the time of my life.”