Star King

When the Union Cricket Club was formed in 1909, cricket was struggling. Club cricket in North Otago was starting to wane after going through a golden period which at one stage saw 8 teams entered in its senior competition and a junior (second grade) competition as well. With a lack of teams, the senior competition at the start of the 1909-1910 season had gone into recess and it would not be started again until after WWI in 1919-1920.

During these early years of the club matches were more of a social nature and often games would be played against visiting ships and local businesses. Union often played 'scratch matches' that is games between club members but its very first game was against a local business, the North Otago Farmers Co-operative, played at Union's home ground - Takaro Park.

The following is the newspaper report from the Oamaru Mail on the game.

A very enjoyable match was played on Takaro Park yesterday in the presence of a fair number of spectators, between the Union Cricket Club and the Farmers' Co-operative team. For the winners A. King (48 not out), J. Gibson and R. King (12) batted well, while for the losers S. Goodall (44) and J. Reynolds (9 not out) were conspicuous.

Player Pages:
J Gibson | A King | Star King |

Union 1st XI 110 ( A. King 48no, J. Gibson 21, R. King 12 )
N.O. Farmers Co-Operative 79 ( S. Goodall 44 )
Union 1st XI won by 31 runs
Full scorecard for the match