During the 1882–83 New Zealand cricket season, the

first class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

consisted of six matches: an Auckland team went on a tour in December including three games, two in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

and in Wellington on the southern tip of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, and three further local clashes.

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

won both their matches in this season, but by close margins (27 runs over Auckland and four runs over

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

). Auckland also had a good record, with three wins and a loss after a first-innings lead to Canterbury, while

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

won the annual clash with

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

to end with a 1–1 record. Matches in Canterbury and Auckland were played with four-ball overs, the remainder with five-ball overs.

Events

Auckland's December tour

* 2–5 December 1882,

Lancaster Park Lancaster Park, also known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium was closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 eart ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

(130 & 180) beat

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

(162 & 121) by 27 runs. In the first clash between the sides since 1877, Canterbury fought off Auckland quick bowler William Lankham, who took eleven for 99 on first class debut, and a first-innings deficit of 32 to clinch victory on the final day.

David Ashby David Glynn Ashby (born 14 May 1940) was the Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for North West Leicestershire North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the L ...

and George Watson made a fourth-wicket stand of 64, the second largest stand of the game after Watson had made 81 for the second wicket with William Reeves in the first innings, and Canterbury closed with a lead of 123 with five wickets in hand. On the third morning, ten wickets fell for 50 runs, five of them Auckland wickets, and they now required 124 to win. However, William Frith completed a

ten-wicket haul In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

to help Canterbury to a 27-run win. * 8–9 December 1882,

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve (commonly known as "The Basin") is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It has been used for Test matches, and is the main home ground for the Wellington Firebirds first-class team. The Basin Reserve is the only cricke ...

(94 & 134) lost to Auckland (174 & 55/1) by nine wickets. Auckland retained their unbeaten record against Wellington, who despite winning the toss trailed by 80 runs on first innings, with Robert Yates' 49 the top score. Lankham continued his good tour with four wickets in the second innings, ending with 18 wickets thus far. * 13–14 December 1882, Victory Square,

(33 & 150) lost to Auckland (89 & 98) by four runs. Auckland ended the tour with a 2–1 record after a narrow win at Nelson, with Nelson bowler James Wigzell taking his only career

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

after the Nelson captain put Auckland in to bat. Then the hosts were all out for 33, with four

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

and no double-digit scores, with Lankham taking six wickets and two men

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, governed by Law 38 of the Laws of Cricket. A run out usually occurs when the batsmen are attempting to run between the wickets, and the fielding team succeed in getting the ball to one wicket befo ...

. Wigzell ended with nine wickets, and Nelson nearly chased down the target of 155; in the final partnership, the nine and eleven batsmen made 22 not out and 30 respectively, before Auckland opening bowler William Buckland struck to seal the win. Auckland's tour also included four non-first-class matches before the Canterbury match, against teams from

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

and Ashburton, all of which Auckland won. The 12-man team left Auckland by ship on 16 November, and returned on 17 December.

February

* 9–12 February 1883,

: Canterbury (131 & 94) beat

(134 & 87) by four runs. Otago failed to repeat the previous year's feat, when they broke Canterbury's seven-year winning streak, as Canterbury captain Frederick Wilding took seven for 31 in Otago's chase of 92 to win. On the first day, William Reeves had hit 54 for Canterbury while Frank Cooke took eight wickets, six of them

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batsman. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batsman, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. (Th ...

, but Otago had been reduced to 32 for four in chase of 131.

Hugh MacNeil Hugh MacNeil (26 October 1860 – 14 September 1924) was a New Zealand cricketer, golfer and businessman. Life and business career Hugh MacNeil was born in Glasgow in 1860, his parents' second son. The family migrated to Dunedin in 1865. He at ...

's 58 brought parity, Otago leading by three runs when Wilding took the final wicket, but MacNeil chipped in with a couple of wickets on the third morning as Canterbury went from 73 for five to 94. Cooke took most of the other wickets to end with match figures of fifteen for 94. However, he was outshone by Wilding, who had Cooke and six others bowled as Canterbury snatched the win.

Taranaki's first class debut

* 24 March and 26 March 1883,

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: Auckland (241) beat

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

(63 & 55) by an innings and 123 runs. Taranaki travelled north to Auckland to make their first class debut, which ended with them posting the third and fifth lowest scores of the season, on the way to the heaviest defeat; of Taranaki's batsmen, only three made it into double figures over the two innings, and they were bowled out twice in a day after Auckland had made 241 on the first. It took nine years before Taranaki again played a match with first class status. * 24 March and 26 March 1883,

: Nelson (61 & 47) lost to Wellington (153) by an innings and 47 runs. Though no Wellington batsman made more than James Wood's 32 from number eight, it was enough to beat Nelson by an innings, as captain

Joseph Firth Joseph "Pentland" Firth (25 March 1859 – 13 April 1931) was a New Zealand educationalist and teacher. He was the headmaster of Wellington College from 1892 to 1920. He was born and died in Wellington. Early life and family Born in Wellingto ...

and Wood (eight and seven wickets respectively) made inroads with the new ball on both days. Nelson scored at slower than one run an over in the first innings.(Scorecard)
Wellington vs Nelson

Leading players

Most runs

Most wickets

Best performances

Highest scores

* 74, William Barton for Auckland v Taranaki (24 March 1883) * 58, Hugh MacNeil for Otago v Canterbury (9 February and 11 February 1883) * 54, William Reeves for Canterbury v Otago (9 February 1883) * 52, George Watson for Canterbury v Auckland (4 December and 5 December 1882) * 49, Robert Yates for Auckland v Wellington (8 December and 9 December 1882)

Best match bowling figures

* 15–94, Frank Cooke for Otago v Canterbury (9–12 February 1883) * 13–35, William Lankham for Auckland v Taranaki (26 March 1883) * 11–66, Frederick Wilding for Canterbury v Otago (9–12 February 1883) * 11–99, William Lankham for Auckland v Canterbury (2–5 December 1882) * 10–56, William Lankham for Auckland v Nelson (13–14 December 1882)