CRICKET UNDER DIFFICULTIES

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1931, Page 7

CRICKET UNDER DIFFICULTIES

NAPIER'S PLUCKY EFFORT. Those interested in cricket throughout the Dominion note with keenest sympathy the efforts of the Hawke’s Bay Cricket Association to keep the grand old game going under the greatest possible difficulties.

For those whose nerves have been badly wracked by the harrowing experience through which they have passed, outdoor sports is the. one antidote which is going to assist in retaining the right mental outlook.

Many Napier people suffered the loss of everything .material, home as well as job, while those more fortunate to find work spend long.days of labour in trying to surmount the loss of their lifetime’s savings. On the playing field, players as well as spectators spend a few hours of complete mental and physical relaxation fitting them for. the big job in hand. The Hawke’s Bay Cricket Association was never a wealthy body, .any funds it had being spent on improvement of public grounds, with which Napier was better equipped at the time of the earthquake tl>an many larger towns and cities. Nelson Park, that glorious ground, once the pride of the town on which no less than nine cricket matches could be played at once, was ruined as a playing area, while on it was. built emergency hospitals and other temporary facilities as well as the main camp established after the earthquake. Unless more help can be given it will be many years before it can be reinstated. The great cracks and undulations are gradually being filled and levelled but it will be a long job unless further finance is made available. Napier is slowly but surely laying the foundations of a great city. The restoration of underground services, sewage and water supply costing £170,000 is well under way, and buildings exceeding over a quarter of a million in value have been erected at the Port. While Napier’s residents are working so valiantly on reconstruction, sporting bodies can be expected to assist in reinstating the sports grounds and play areas. It is unfortunate that Napiers’ need coincides with the financial depression, but relief labour must be employed, and here is an admirable job. Napier’s plucky effort to keep her cricket and other sports alive has won the sympathy of all sporting bodies throughout the Dominion, and if they could find some way- of practical help, they would, certainly rise to the occasion.