Sneak peek into former mayor’s library
A library containing close to 5000 books about cricket will have its grand opening next week, before promptly closing again.
The man behind it is former Whanganui mayor and lifelong cricket fan Hamish Mcdouall.
His own collection, which he started in 2001, has been bolstered by those of family friend Ken Bertenshaw and former Whanganui District Council manager George Nivin Mcdougall.
Lining the walls are books from the late 19th century right up until the present day, written by former players, coaches, commentators, analysts and enthusiasts.
Nestled in one is a 1983 letter to Mcdougall from Sir Donald Bradman, where the great Australian batsman states that while he never played in New Zealand, he always had a soft spot for its people and their “lovely country”.
“All the great writers are in here, people like Neville Cardus, Gideon Haigh, John Arlott, and Jarrod Kimber, who I think is the best in the world at the moment,” Mcdouall said.
“If you are going to pick out the best cricket book ever though, it’s Beyond a Boundary by C.L.R. James.”
He said gathering and organising the collection had been a lot of fun.
It is housed in an old bunk room on his Westmere property, which his wife, Elinor Mcdouall, renovated and decked out with astroturf.
“It’s taken about four years to get it like this. Once you build something, it just gets bigger and bigger.”
The oldest book, The Jubilee Book of Cricket, was written in 1897 by Prince K.S. Ranjitsinhji and dedicated to Queen Victoria.
“He played for England, batted in a silk shirt and invented the leg glance, which I’m very appreciative of,” Mcdouall said. “That’s where I got most of my runs.
“Funnily enough, it’s not very rare. I think I’ve had three different copies of it in my lifetime.”
One book that is hard to come by is on the history of the sport in Rhodesia, complete with an elephant-skin cover.
Mcdouall’s own work also makes an appearance. He wrote Who’s who of New Zealand cricket in 1993, followed by a biography of New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns in 2002.
The former mayor has played the game at club level, followed the New Zealand team on tours to the West Indies and Zimbabwe as a journalist, and commentated in Dunedin in the early 1990s.
“In one game, there were two little kids who would rush onto the field as 12th man,” Mcdouall said.
“Their father would be saying ‘Right, it’s your turn now’ and the other one would complain and say ‘That’s not fair, he’s had more overs than me’.
“It turned out to be Stu Mccullum, and his kids were Brendon and Nathan.”
Mcdouall will have a formal opening of the library next week, alongside a nephew of Mcdougall and other cricket enthusiasts.
That will be it for the moment, however, with the family moving out of their house and into Whanganui city.
The new abode doesn’t quite have the space to showcase thousands of books about cricket.
“I’m going to have to find a new place for it all. I’ve got a couple of ideas in mind,” Mcdouall said.