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He represented Taranaki against Wairarapa in Hawke Cup cricket in 1908 and his claim to cricketing fame was his dismissal ofV. Trumper and W. Armstrong with successive balls at the Basin Reserve in February, 1914, when playing for Wellington against Sim's Australian team. A cricketer held in high esteem by devotees of the sport is Martin Donnelly, an especially gifted led-handed batsman. He played for New Plymouth Boys' High School and New Plymouth Old Boys, and was a member of the Taranaki team between 1933 and 1940. He went to England with the 1937 New Zealand team. Following service in World War Two he went to Oxford. He played for New Zealand in the triumphant 1949 tour and produced many outstanding displays, his batting delighting the English spectators. He scored centuries at Lords (206 in a 1949 test) in a universities match and in a Gentlemen-versus- Players game. He later went to Australia. Pukekura Park was the scene for one of New Zealand's greatest triumphs when Australia was beaten in an 'unofficial' test match in 1967. The game was allocated to Pukekura Park after doubt about the condition of Wellington's Basin Reserve. New Zealand spin bowlers Brian Yuile and Victor Pollard dominated the match, taking 18 wickets between them and dismissing Australia for 175 and 191. New Zealand, scoring 278 and 247 for 8 declared, won the first test by 159 runs. When the second and third tests were drawn, New Zealand gained its first series win over Australia. The park, venue of other matches against overseas teams-Pakistan, England, India, South Africa and Fiji has been highly praised as a cricketing ground, mainly for its beauty, and the quality of the pitch, the result of outstanding work by the city council grounds men. No. 85 Brougham Street is a pleasant, well-built stucco house. Its entrance is guarded by a high concrete and stone archway which has special significance for bowlers; it was erected as a memorial to James Paul, mayor of the town, prominent businessman, founder of the Taranaki Brewery, all-round sportsman, racehorse owner, one-time officer in the militia-and founder of bowling in New Plymouth. Paul lived in a large building opposite the present Radio Taranaki headquarters, and when, on March 10, 1885, he called a meeting to form a bowling club, 50 supporters, most of them prominent townsmen, elected him president of the club. Within nine months a small clubhouse had been erected, a green laid and for the next 35 years the Brougham Street section, which was leased and later bought from Paul, was the home of bowling in the town. It was the second club to be formed in the North Island (Auckland's was established in 1861) and the first interclub tournament was played on the New Plymouth green against Auckland in 1866,
the home team winning by 114 points to 112. New Plymouth's three teams in that match were: A. Todd, G. J. Newman, T. K. Skinner and J. Paul (skip); W. Morey, C. Craigmile, W. W. Cottier and W. F. Downes (skip); and A. Drew, W. Wright, J. T. Davies and T. Humphries (skip). A year later a return match was played, three rinks skipped by Paul, Downes and Morey winning another close match, 88-79. The first North Island inter-provincial tournament was held in New Plymouth at Easter, 1889, when teams from Auckland, Wellington, Wanganui and New Plymouth competed. New Plymouth won all its matches and thus became the first interprovincial champion. In 1901 a rink consisting of Paul, Morey, John Veale, Dingle, of New Plymouth, and G. Syme, of Haw era, were included in the first combined Australian and New Zealand bowling team to tour Britain. The eight New Zealanders on the tour won 14 of their 27 games, and Dingle set the seal of success by winning the singles championship against more than 100 competitors at Crystal Palace. By the turn of the century bowling was well established and soon other clubs were being formed in the town: Fitzroy (1903), Vogeltown (1907), West End (1910), Paritutu (1924), East End (1930), New Plymouth RSA (1940) and Waimea (1950). The Taranaki Bowling Association was formed in 1905 to administer the affairs of the rapidly-growing sport which had, until then, been in the hands of the Northern Bowling Association to which the New Plymouth club was affiliated in 1891. In 1931 the amalgamation of the North and South Island associations brought into being the present New Zealand Bowling Association, and W. J. Penn, was elected first president of the Taranaki Bowling Centre on September 12, 1913. When, in 1921, the present New Plymouth Bowling Club's site in Courtenay Street was taken over, the Brougham Street property was sold. It was found impossible to move the memorial archway, but the marble tablet on it, bearing the inscription, 'James Paul, Member and Founder of this Club, 1885-1906,' was removed and hung in the social rooms of the new pavilion. Before the days of the 40-hour week most bowlers worked till noon on Saturdays, and as Sunday play was agains the rules, club championships were usually played during the weekday evenings.' Several clubs installed floodlighting at considerable expense: the Fitzroy club was one which found, after a time, that this was impracticable because of heavy dews and corrosion because of salt spray and their lighting system was dismantled. When Sunday playing was introduced opposition was met from several sources, including the Salvation Army. On Sunday afternoons, members of the New Plymouth club was the target of the Army in full force, together with their band which stationed itself in Leach Street and played and prayed for them. Some bowlers were not amused at hearing

themselves described as 'those poor sinners inside the fence' and 'desecrators of the Sabbath.' Such opposition notwithstanding, the popularity of bowling has increased over the years, and New Plymouth has produced many outstanding players and administrators. In 1980 there were an esti- mated 1400 bowlers in the city and apart from social games and club championships, many of them took part in or were spectators at the bowling centre's Easter pairs and New Year open fours tourna- ments. The latter, which in 1980 attracted nearly 600 entries from all over New Zealand, was the largest provincial tournament in the country. According to an Encyclopaedia of New Zealand there was only one woman's bowling club in the North Island before 1939. Its name is not given, but it is a fact that the New Plymouth Women's Bowling Club was established on October 5, 1936. Previous to this women did not have their own greens, but were permitted to use the Courtenay Street greens on specified weekday afternoons. When the New Plymouth Central Croquet Club (which also used one of the men's greens) was disbanded, their greens were used for bowls by the ladies, who reached agreement with the men's club that funds from subscriptions, concerts, bring-and-buy stalls and card evenings should be handed over as payment for using the green. This agreement has been maintained satisfactorily ever since. Later, as more women became interested in the game, clubs were formed at Riverside (in Aubrey Street) Waiwaka, Fitzroy, and Paritutu, and when the Taranaki Women's Bowling Centre was established in 1947 there were 109 women bowlers in the province, the majority in New Plymouth. By 1979 there were 33 clubs with more than 1300 players in Taranaki. Outstanding New Plymouth bowlers have included Mrs G. Gillespie and Mrs Hancock. The former won the New Plymouth club champion- ship six times, the national singles title, the Taranaki singles (twice), the pairs (three times) and the fours (once). Mrs Hancock has been club champion on five occasions. Indoor bowls began as a social activity of the Oddfellows, Druids and other lodges in the town in the early 1920s, and was soon taken up by sporting clubs, business houses, and the RSA. By 1949 the game had grown in popularity and the Taranaki Indoor Bowling Centre was formed to control the sport. New Plymouth Bowling Club formed its own indoor association in 1958. Taranaki fours, skipped by L. J. Hills and S. D. Dick, won the national titles in 1953 and 1956. The first known records of croquet in New Plymouth are contained in a cashbook dated 1921, now held by the Taranaki Croquet Association.
However, it is fairly certain that lawns were laid out at several of the 'stately homes' in and near New Plymouth well before this time. Officers of the association in 1921 were Dr George Home (president), Dr W. R. Wade (vice-president) and Mrs D. K. Morrison (secretary- treasurer). There were four clubs in the town-New Plymouth, Central, Fitzroy and Pukekura. By 1980 there were only two, New Plymouth and West End. A highlight of croquet's career in the town was the visit in 1935 by three English test players, including the renowned expert, Colonel De Pre. History was made on this occasion when, for the only time, a charge was made for croquet spectators. One of the prominent players ofthe 1930s was Captain F. L. Hartnell, of West End, who won the New Zealand open championship and was also a member of the test team which toured Australia in 1935. When he died in 1939 his wife presented his mallet as a trophy, which is played for annually. Another trophy played for each year is a rose bowl presented by Dr Home. Outstanding croquet players and administrators have included Mrs N. B. Bellringer (president from 1958 until her death in 1976), and Mrs O. Ward, who was a foundation member of the West End club and was still playing and coaching in 1978.
Tennis has been a popular sport in New Plymouth since the end of the land wars. By 1890 several of the larger houses in the town had their own grass courts-one of the most popular was that at Brooklands, where Newton King laid out two playing areas-but tennis was generally a social occasion. Clubs were formed by the turn of the century. The Highlands Tennis Club flourished until World War Two, when its assets were taken over by the Kawaroa Park Club in 1946. Assisted by the now defunct Kawaroa Park Beautification Society, this club became the strongest in the city. The Les Whiting Memorial Trophy, which has been contested annually since 1947, is a memorial to Whiting, one of the first club captains. The Purser family has grown up with badminton in New Plymouth. Howard, who for many years owned a large furniture store in Devon Street, played his first game of badminton when he was 16 and in 1934 became a foundation member of the 200-strong New Plymouth Bad- minton Club, with Jack Smith as president. Purser held every office in the club and in 1958 he was made a life member. He was president of the New Zealand Badminton Federation, and managed three New Zealand teams in the 1950s. As a player he won many Taranaki championships and in 1949 was reserve in a New Zealand team. His son, Richard, began, as did Howard, as a tennis player, and trained as a member of the junior New Zealand Davis Cup Squad for several years until he concentrated on badminton. Richard and his brother Bryan were among the country's top players-Richard won 30 titles and Bryan 12.