Thomas Battersby (11 January 1877 – 16 December 1936) was an English-born cricketer. He played two first-class matches in New Zealand for Southland, one in each of the 1914–15 and 1918–19 seasons.McCarron, Tony (2010). New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 16. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.)
Professionally Battersby worked as a noted groundsman and caretaker in Invercargill, and was responsible for the development of the cricket pitch at the city's Rugby Park ground to first-class standard. He served in the New Zealand Army during World War I and was involved in sports clubs in Invercargill until his death in 1936.
Sporting life Battersby was born at Ashton-in-Makerfield in Lancashire in 1877.Thomas Battersby, CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 March 2024. Service records, Archives New Zealand. Retrieved 5 March 2024. By 1912 he had emigrated to Invercargill in the Southland Region of New Zealand where he was employed as the groundsman and caretaker of the Rugby Park sports ground in the city.Cricket notes, The Playground, Southland Times, issue 17203, 23 November 1912, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Sporting, Southland Times, issue 17177, 24 October 1912, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Sporting, Southland Times, issue 17258, 31 January 1913, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) A clay cricket pitch was first established at the ground in 1910 and the first cricket played on the ground in 1911.Thomas G (2022) Lost Grounds of Invercargill, The Cricket Statistician, no. 196, Winter 2022, pp. 32–36.Payne F, Smith I eds (2021) 2021 New Zealand Cricket Almanack, p. 267. Takapuna: Upstart Press. Rugby Park, Invercargill, CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 March 2024. Battersby was responsible for the development of the grass wicket on the ground, bringing it up to first-class standard.Cricket notes, Southland Times, issue 17241, 11 January 1913, p. 8. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)
By November 1912 Battersby, who according to The Southland Times was making "his first public appearance in Southland", was playing cricket in Invercargill for Appleby Cricket Club. He played club cricket regularly and was a strong club player―in January 1913 The Southland Times wrote that "since his entry into local games he has proved himself a consistent run getter", although it was of the view that "there is nothing attractive in his mode of making runs, but he is solid, and can deal with bowling where many another batsman falls." He was later a member of the club's committee, served as captain, treasurer and, in the 1930s, was the club's president.Cricket: Appleby Club's annual meeting, Southland Times, issue 21493, 8 September 1931, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Cricket, Southern Cross, volume 22, issue 35, 28 November 1914, p. 12. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) He represented the club on the Southland Cricket Association and was one of the selectors for Southland representative matches.Cricket: Appleby Cricket Club, Southland Times, issue 17442, 6 September 1913, p. 5. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Sporting, Southland Times, issue 17463, 1 October 1913, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Cricket, Southland Times, issue 18759, 20 December 1919, p. 9. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Sporting, Southland Times, issue 19335, 21 September 1921, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)
Developing a reputation as a batsman for whom the "consistency of his totals ... makes him valuable", the Invercargill press considered him worthy of consideration for the Southland representative team by January 1913,Cricket notes, Southland Times, issue 17247, 18 January 1913, p. 7. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) and he played his first representative match in March, a non-first-class fixture against Otago at Rugby Park. Although his batting was disappointing, he was, according to The Southland Times, "well worth his place" and had "justified his inclusion by his clever fielding".Cricket notes, Southland Times, issue 17289, 8 March 1913, p. 7. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) The following season he played in a trial match for the "Probables" Southland side, but was only included in the side as an "emergency" replacement player,Sporting, Southland Times, issue 17536, 26 December 1913, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) and in the event did not play in any of Southland's representative matches during 1913–14.
The following season Battersby was again selected as an "emergency" for the representative side, but with three players having to drop out of the Southland team to face Otago he played in the match―the first of Southland's eight first-class matches.Cricket, Southern Cross, volume 22, issue 45, 13 February 1915, p. 6. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Sporting, Southland Times, issue 17438, 17 February 1915, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Cricket, Southern Cross, volume 22, issue 46, 20 February 1915, p. 6. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) Against a strong Otago side, Southland fared badly and were dismissed in both of their innings for fewer than 100 runs, Battersby making scores of two and one in his innings. Battersby played further representative matches for Southland, playing against Otago in 1918–19 and 1919–20, and Ashburton County in 1921–22.The representative cricket team, Southland Times, issue 18766, 15 March 1920, p. 7. (https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19200315.2.58.1 Available online] at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Sporting, Southland Times, issue 18764, 12 March 1920, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)
He continued to play club cricket for Appleby, and was described in late 1921 as having "always been a force to be reckoned with in the southern club’s eleven, while the value of the work he has done year after year for his club, has perhaps not yet been fully appreciated. In difficult periods, Battersby has been the life and soul of his club, while the work he has done in bringing on the younger players is deserving of the highest praise".Cricket, Southland Times, issue 19388, 19 November 1921, p. 9. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) As well as coaching at Appleby he also assisted with the coaching of cricket at Southland Boys' High School in Invercargill.Cricket, The Southlandian, no. 22, May 1913, p. 24. (Available online. Retrieved 5 March 2024.) Although he announced that he was "giving up the game" ahead of the 1922–23 season, he continued to play occasional matches when required.Cricket, Southland Times, issue 19663, 14 October 1922, p. 5 (Supplement). (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Cricket, Southland Times, issue 19751, 27 January 1923, p. 12 (Supplement). (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)
Professional life As a groundsman Battersby quickly made a good impression. His work preparing pitches was noted by October 1912, with The Southland Times saying that the "turf wickets at the Park will lie in a condition far ahead of anything experienced on the occasion of opening games in past seasons".The playground, Southland Times, issue 17173, 19 October 1912, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) In December the same paper reported that cricketers "were loud in their praise of the condition of the wickets at the Park since caretaker Battersby has applied his knowledge to that area"The playground, Southland Times, issue 17214, 7 December 1912, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) and in January 1913 the paper was clear that he "knows more than the correct manner of preparing turf wickets" then anyone else in the city.
By September 1913 the Southland Cricket Association was praising Battersby's work preparing cricket pitches at Rugby Park. Its annual report said the he "continues his excellent service" and that "his skill being evident in the quality of the pitches provided for club and other matches".Southland Cricket Association, Southland Times, issue 17455, 22 September 1913, p. 7. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) Despite conditions in Invercargill where wet weather was commonplace, especially during the early months of the cricket season, The Southland Times praised the preparation of the Rugby Park pitch for an inter-provincial match against Wellington in January 1914, saying that the wicket was a "splendid testimony to the capabilities of Caretaker Battersby"Interpro cricket, Southland Times, issue 17544, 7 January 1914, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) and that he had prepared a pitch "on which the batsmen should have made lots of runs".Cricket, Southland Times, issue 17547, 10 January 1914, p. 10. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)
Ahead of the match against Canterbury the following month the paper again called his pitch preparation "splendid" and praised the "billiard-like surface" in the outfield,Sporting, Southland Times, issue 17573, 10 February 1914, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) while The Southern Cross reported that "the wicket is in fine order, thanks to the care of Mr Battersby, who is a real live custodian and enthusiastic cricketer".General news, Southern Cross, volume 21, issue 45, 7 February 1914, p. 8. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) In the event, rain meant that play was only possible for three hours on the first day of the match, but The Southland Times reported that Battersby, who it said "had laboured hard to provide an excellent wicket ... had succeeded" in producing a pitch that "played so well during the three hours that batsmen and bowlers were defying each other and its surface was in itself an excellent testimony to the qualifications of the caretaker to work up a wicket of standard".Interpro cricket, Southland Times, issue 17574, 11 February 1914, p. 2. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)
Military service In July 1916 Battersby resigned his position as caretaker at Rugby Park in order to enlist in the New Zealand Army, being granted a leave of absence to do so.Southland Rugby Union, Southland Times, issue 17975, 16 March 1917, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.)Sporting, Southland Times, issue 17792, 22 July 1916, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) He enlisted in the 19th reinforcements, leaving New Zealand in November 1916Thomas Battersby, Online Cenotaph, Auckland Museum. Retrieved 5 March 2024.Recruiting, Southland Times, issue 17794, 25 July 1916, p. 5. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 7 March 2024.) and arriving in England in January 1917.
After a time spend at the New Zealand Depot at Codford in Wiltshire, Battersby was posted to France in May 1917 and spent five months on the Western Front on active service. He was wounded in the hand and thigh, the thigh wound considered serious, in October and invalided out of the front line to a field hospital at Étaples. In January 1918 he returned to England to recuperate due to his wounds but in March was found unfit for duty due to the stress of active service and returned to New Zealand where he was discharged in June 1918.
Later life