It is with great sadness that John Grocott passed away on Saturday 18 January 2020 after a brief illness over recent months.

His contribution to cricket in Christchurch and Canterbury was immeasurable, and particularly to his beloved club of East Christchurch Shirley based at Burwood Park.

It should be noted that he gave great service to basketball in Canterbury for a number of decades.

The funeral will be held at Shirley Boys' High School Theatre at 1pm on Thursday 23rd January.

The following is an excerpt taken from an interview with John in 2018 and published in the Christchurch Metropolitan Cricket Association’s Annual Report of 2017-18:

“What a contribution! 62 years of service to one club!

While born in Auckland, John’s first recollections of cricket were watching cricket during World War II when his family resided in Richmond, Nelson. Cricket took a real grip when the family moved to Wellington with New Zealand cricketer, John Beck coaching John while at Karori Primary School. At this time John had an early cricket education from hours of throw-downs from Ivor Charles, father of the famous golfer, Sir Bob Charles. His secondary education was at Wellington College (1951-55) where he made the 1^st XI in his final two years. This team, part-coached by John Reid, included Brian Hastings, one of New Zealand’s foremost batsmen in the last 50 years.

In 1956, John moved to Christchurch where he played a few games for the then-Varsity Cricket Club. At this time, he came under the influence of legendary Canterbury and New Zealand cricketer, Ian Cromb, who encouraged him to join East Christchurch Cricket Club whose home ground was at Lancaster Park which they shared with the club bearing that name.

The East Christchurch club, led by its President Dr. Orchard (who held that office from 1905 to 1958!), then moved to McFarlane Park in the late 1950s before combining with the recently-established Shirley Boys’ High School at Burwood Park in the 1960s. It took on the name of East Christchurch Shirley which remains to this day.

John has been hugely influential in the club’s development.

An accountant, he was Secretary in 1957 and, for the most part, has remained on the club’s committee through to the present day. John was a delegate to the Canterbury Cricket Association in the early 1960s before becoming a Canterbury selector at Canterbury Brabin (Under 20) and Canterbury Rothmans (Under 23) level. He was then appointed to be a selector to the Canterbury Plunket Shield team in 1975-76 which won all Shell trophies available in that season. During that period, he gleaned plenty of cricket knowledge from Canterbury captain Bevan Congdon. John was re-elected after a season out and teamed up with Peter Sharp, Ian Cromb, Don McKendry and then Noel McGregor during a transitional period under the expert and influential captaincy of Maurice Ryan. It was during this period of Canterbury cricket that saw the blossoming of Canterbury great, Paul McEwan.

In the mid-1980s John returned to under-age selections again when he joined John Thompson and Wayne Wilson as Brabin selectors.

However, it is with the East Shirley club that John has made his cricketing life.

He has served at varying lengths as President and Treasurer and has been involved for over six decades. John rolls club stalwarts off his tongue with great recall including David Hearn, Bill Duncan and Neil Ockwell.

But what of his influence in cricket in the east of Christchurch? John established junior cricket there in 1958 including a junior coaching programme in 1959 to 1971. It was a forerunner to the work carried out by the inspirational late Bill Duncan.

He attained his Level 2 coaching grade in 1968 and in the 1980s established the Saturday morning programmes for first-year players and was the first club in New Zealand to adopt the NZC Have-a-Go programme. He has only recently retired from that programme.

In 2009-10, John was awarded the Sir Jack Newman Award for service to grass roots cricket in New Zealand. As well as being a Life Member of his club, John was elected as a Life Member for the Christchurch Metropolitan Cricket Association in 2015.

Throughout this long service, John played for the Easts’ senior team as an opening batsman from 1956 to 1981 after which he played at 2^nd Grade level before fitting comfortably into the Presidents Blue team until around 2012.

Of course, his wife, Lola played a massive part in John and the family’s love for the game. Elder daughter Sara played while at school and David and Tim, along with John, made for very busy Saturdays around the cricket fields and plenty of cricket lunches no doubt!

John is still acting Treasurer and loves nothing more than “being there for the club”, wandering around the grounds supporting the teams while reflecting on many wonderful memories that the game has brought.”

John was an impressive man: large of stature, always smiling, thoughtful and charming in conversation, willing to step in the breach without hesitation, always having time for anyone who should pass his way, and universally popular.

He was a gentle man

Article added: Monday 20 January 2020