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The Honours Board

In 1919 organised sport in New Zealand was still recovering from the disruptions of the First World War. Most competitions had been in recess and facilities were scarce. In September of that year, a group of keen sportsmen met in a building on the corner of Devon and Egmont Sts in New Plymouth, to consider forming a new cricket club..."The Honours Board" is a unique account of the New Plymouth Old Boys' Cricket Club from that first meeting, through to the unprecedented success of the Premier team in the 2000's and the 'treble' of 2014. Along the way, the book tells the stories of many of the club's players, the prominent officials, the notable games, the triumphs and contraventions, the difficulties of the war years. All the Premier games in more recent times are covered.The Club has won more Premier Grade titles, and produced more Taranaki and New Zealand players, than any other in Taranaki."The Honours Board" also covers several other aspects of New Plymouth's sporting history.Western Park, Old Boys' home ground, is the second oldest sports ground in New Plymouth. The story of the Park's development, beginning in 1902, and helped along by cheap prison labour, is told in full. Many sports have been played at the Park, including athletics, boxing, croquet, cycling, football, lawn bowls, rugby union and rugby league. There is a significant chapter about the great days in Taranaki sport, the professional boxing fight between Taranaki's own Tommy Donovan and the visiting American, Pete Sarron, on Western Park in 1930.The book also covers various aspects of New Plymouth's urban development and social activities, especially around the Western Park area, along with the story of the development of many of New Plymouth's other sports venues and parks.Very few books have been written about the history of sport in Taranaki. This is the first book about a cricket club in New Plymouth. Liberally illustrated with photographs, most of them unseen for decades, "The Honours Board" is the complete history of the club and Western Park.