Days of Future Past: Book fair find a piece of sporting history

Saturday, 25 July 2026

If I were compelled to draw up a list of life's most underrated experiences the attendance of book fairs would rank mighty high. The thrill of the chase, the certainty of a bargain, the opportunity to acquire the unique, the beautiful and the life-changing amidst piles of discarded, unwanted tomes.

In Hamilton this ritual plays out every few months at the Te Rapa Racecourse, courtesy of do-gooding organisations like Rotary or the Red Cross. On one opening morning not so long ago at this venue the following interaction occurred.

I had already done the rounds of the DVD room and the Waikato section and the table devoted to literature. It was time to address the sports corner and as ever the cricket books were a priority. One or two others had the same idea and among this number I spotted an old friend, a one-time practitioner of the leather-upon-willow code who has been known to dabble in commentary. In short, someone who knew an awful lot more about the game than your average armchair critic, a category I most certainly fall into.

After greeting said gentleman and proffering congratulations as to his then recent elevation to the status of fatherhood I asked if he had found any books of interest. Specifically, I enquired as to the pickings in the cricket section. My friend replied without hesitation, saying 'nah, there's not much here, mate, just the same old, same old'.

Soon after the utterance, obviously feeling that this Seinfeldian 'stop and chat' had gone on a tad long and mindful of his new paternal responsibilities, he exited quickly. The field was mine.

Not feeling unduly influenced by the appraisal of the expert, I cast my eyes over picture books, biographies and statistical anthologies. It did not take long to spot something that I hadn't seen before. In pristine condition, evidently a first edition, was a publication devoted to the life and times, or at least the formal career, of the sport's greatest ever all-rounder.

As is my wont, I opened the book in search of that little something extra. For me, this is the essence of the book fair experience: the possibility that you might alight upon something signed by the author, especially if that scribe was - or is - a person of significance.

This was my lucky day. Flipping over the front cover of Sobers: Twenty Years at the Top revealed, on the inside page a simple sentiment, written in a strong hand: 'Best wishes, Garry Sobers'.

A better person would have kept the news to himself. In the interests of honest disclosure let me confess to opposite actions. Full of myself at this turn of fortune, I broke into a run, clutching my find, intent on thrusting it in the face of the gentleman who had been so dismissive of the cricket section's prospects. Of course, when I did track him down, he was more inclined to share in the thrill of the moment, albeit briefly, than recognise my gloating. After all, new born babies are far more important than 1988 cricket books, even ones with a forward by Sir Donald Bradman, signed by the author.

The death a week ago of Sir Garfield Sobers brought back that memory. Knowledge that I possess something that Sobers himself once touched made the sad news somehow more personal. I began to muse again on the provenance of the book. Which Hamiltonian had once owned it? Had they themselves met Sobers in the moment of signing or had the knight of realm autographed sundry copies ahead of the book's mass distribution?

I suspect I will never have answers to those questions. However, what is within the realm of research is the brief tale of when the young Sobers first graced Hamilton. Sadly, Sir Gary himself does not single out the Waikato for special attention in his autobiography. References to his poor record in New Zealand as a whole are introduced via a memory of a conversation had with a great Australian all-rounder and war hero, at the conclusion of Sobers' second test series: 'Keith Miller had warned me about the pitfalls to come, and they arrived sooner than expected - in New Zealand in 1955-6…it was the first of three visits I made to New Zealand, and each time I had a miserable time on the field'.

Sobers goes on to explain that 'the pitches were under-prepared in 1955-6, and coming from the flat, easy batting surfaces of the Caribbean I found I was unable to adjust'. He laments being played too high in the batting order, something his form, as a 19-year-old playing only his third test series, did not warrant.

The West Indies tour of Fiji and New Zealand began in the most inauspicious of manners, with a most improbable loss to the smaller of the two Pacific Islands. A one-day match played on 12 January, 1956 saw Fiji dismissed for 91, with Sobers taking 2 for 19. In reply, the mighty West Indies, which had been competitive at home the year before against a very strong Australian side, but were missing key batsmen Clyde Walcott and Frank Worrell, were bowled out for 63. Sobers, coming in at first drop, managed just six runs, one of the six wickets taken by Fiji's J.W. Gosling.

The New Zealand leg of the tour proved more successful for the team as a whole. The opening game, against Auckland, played over three days - 20-23 January, 1956 - saw the home side accrue 277, with Auckland's Donald Taylor falling just five runs short of a century. If Sobers went wicketless, his 14 overs cost just 30 runs, setting a pattern that would be repeated. Although rightly modest about his batting exploits, with ball in hand the great all-rounder was to continually prove himself among the more economical bowlers on the tour.

West Indies replied with 330, the incomparable Everton Weekes hammering 156. Sobers, batting at number four, contributed the next highest score, 38. Auckland wilted in its second innings, dismissed for 101, Sobers' 1 for 6 off 12 overs making for impressive reading, though overshadowed by Sonny Ramadhin's 5 for 21 off 29 overs.Chasing 51 for victory, Sobers was left six not out in the visitors' eight-wicket victory.

Hamilton was the next city to be graced by the men from the Caribbean. The match, a two-day affair, to be played at Seddon Park on 24 and 25 January, 1956, was against a composite side drawn from the Waikato region. Northern Districts would enter the Plunket Shield later that year, on Christmas Day of the following season. At the outset of 1956 it was still a work in progress, not formally a first class side.

The Waikato team was announced the week before. Hamilton's J.K. Everest and A.F. Lissette were current Northern Districts and Auckland representatives, whilst Te Awamutu's B.A. Higgins, Old Technicals' P.H. Smith, Hamilton's D.J. Gray and Claudelands' D. Hoskin had all played for Northern Districts that season. The 12th man selection rejoiced in the most famous of Waikato sporting surnames. Douglas Stewart Clarke, brother of Don 'The Boot' Clarke, had himself also played five-eighth and fullback for the Waikato provincial rugby team.

More acclaimed still was the Waikato side's sole international, wicketkeeper Eric Petrie, who had recently returned from the New Zealand tour of India. A former captain of Auckland, Petrie would later serve as Northern Districts' inaugural first class captain and would play his final test match a decade later.

The West Indies, clearly unfazed by the challenge, chose to rest Weekes, Ramadhin and tour captain Denis Atkinson, handing the captaincy to Bruce Pairaudeau. It was a prophetic choice given Pairaudeau's middle name was 'Hamilton' and, indeed, the British Guyanan was so impressed by the Waikato city that he would eventually settle in Hamilton, building on Petrie's work with Northern Districts and captaining the side to its first Plunket Shield win in the 1962-3 season.

All that was years away when the Waikato side, on the morning of 24 January, 1956 won the toss in what the Evening Post described as 'favourable conditions' and elected to bat. With Everest having failed to recover from a muscle injury suffered in a Plunket Shield game a fortnight before, D.S. Clarke was given the opportunity to open the innings against the tourists. He did not enjoy much success, bowled by Tom Dewdney for five, the delivery splintering the top of the stump and requiring a brief stoppage before play could continue. Waikato were 14 for one.

A second wicket partnership of 37 between opener Petrie and D.J. Gray provided the home team's sole solace as they lost half their side before lunch. Petrie's dismissal, caught behind off Alf Valentine, 'after a display that promised much', occasioned a collapse. Spinner O.G. 'Collie' Smith was the principal destroyer, said by the Press to have 'maintained a perfect length and attacked with every ball' accounting for L.M. Uttley’s leg before wicket as well his namesake P.H. Smith and B McBurney. Smith took his three wickets for 11 runs in eight overs. Waikato were 72 for five.

Sobers' performance with the ball also warranted express praise. Said the Evening Post, 'G. Sobers was very economical…he bowled eight maidens in succession…his 12 overs cost[ing] only five runs'.

There would be no rallying beyond the interval. Valentine bowled Higgins, the Waikato captain, for three, Smith took his fourth wicket, that of Gray, 'who looked the only batsman capable of making a stand' and the tail was wrapped up quickly. Waikato were all out for 82, with Smith taking five for 17. Despite his economy rate, Sobers did not bowl at all after lunch.

The West Indian reply initially gave cause for hope. Opener Hammond Furlong was caught by Clarke off the bowling of Hoskin off the second ball of the innings. Hoskin then accounted for his replacement Alphonso Roberts, the last delivery of the over swinging late. Sensationally, West Indies were two wickets down without having troubled the scorer.

Sobers, joining his captain at second drop, helped engineer a recovery, part of a 43-run third wicket stand. However, on 26, a brilliant catch by Petrie, extending to a position said to be close to that of first slip, saw him undone by the bowling of Proctor.

O.G. Smith could not replicate his bowling success with the bat, caught Proctor, bowled Lissette, for five, just after tea. West Indies were 49 for four.

Pairaudeau, hitherto having played an unblemished captain's knock opening, on 44 skied a delivery off Lissette but the chance, a difficult one, was spilled by Fowler after a hard run effort. The West Indian leader brought up his half century in 127 minutes, the same time required for his team to make three figures. He would later be stumped for 52 by Petrie off Lissette, his partnership with Clairmonte Depeiaza, the number six batsmen, having realised 61 and effectively rescued the innings.

Whilst further wickets would fall before stumps the Waikato side embraced farce in the last five minutes, Uttley and Smith both attempting to take a catch offered up by Wilfred Edun and both failing, then Clarke dropping Frank King, a harder chance, in the final over. West Indies finished the day 160 for seven.

The following morning again began sensationally. Hoskin repeated his feats of the previous afternoon, taking two wickets in his opening over, those of King and Dewdney. Alas, after that, Waikato failed to capitalise. Alfie Binns, unbeaten overnight on 25, offered a chance to slips but Hoskin failed this time to rise to the occasion. Thereafter, emboldened, the batsman went on the offensive, hitting six fours on his way to a well compiled 74 and finding quality support from Valentine, who was left unbeaten on 13. West Indies were all out for 223.

Requiring 141 to avoid an innings defeat, Waikato were to repeat many of their mistakes. Petrie impressed, betraying no fear or hesitation against the bowling and looking positively confident against the international pace attack, but nevertheless was dismissed by O.G. Smith for 25, 'just when he looked set for a big score'. At 66 for three, as they had been in their initial knock, Waikato threatened to at least make the visitors bat again but thereafter came another middle order collapse, which the Press ascribed to 'a lack of initiative and defensive tactics'.

The paper felt West Indies' bowling was 'accurate' rather than 'hostile' but labelled their fielding 'very good'. Waikato were dismissed for 90, for an innings and 51 run defeat, the Press arguing that 'more runs could have been made'.

Valentine took four wickets for 22 runs, for an overall tally of eight, with 11 of his overs maidens. Clearly the bowler of the match, he did not entirely overshadow the work of Sobers. Said to 'have impressed with his easy style and great accuracy' Sobers' three for 21 off 15 overs included six maidens. When considered in concert with his first innings economy rate and part in resurrecting his team's batting, he certainly made a significant contribution to the victory.

Whilst history's greatest cricketing all-rounder lamented his overall form in New Zealand this assessment surely failed to recognise his prowess with the ball, partly because, at least on this initial tour, he was wholly underused in that capacity in the test matches that followed. New Zealand perhaps had reason to be thankful, in the concluding test of the tour, that Sobers' input was confined to two runs, across two innings. Had he been employed in what was then his strongest suit, we may well have not won our first ever test match.

I like to think my copy of Sobers' autobiography once belonged to his former captain and team mate, the latter day Hamilton resident Bruce Pairaudeau. It's just possible that Pairaudeau influenced Sobers' parting assessment of New Zealand: 'it was a great place to visit, as long as you were not playing cricket!'