Nz cricket

Gordon Dry was the complete package. He loved sport, particularly cricket and rugby, he knew about finance after 44 years working for the Reserve Bank, ...

For much of the year Gordon’s car was a constant outside the clubrooms, and he was always the first one there and the last to leave. He was everything the ideal sports club volunteer should be, and more. He had such a positive impact on so many people’s lives and was a friend and father figure for many at the club with his wise counsel… One of Gordon’s biggest challenges was collecting the players’ subs. He had a hand in the selection of teams every week, and he knew all the players by name, quite remarkable. He may have taken it a bit far on one occasion when he insisted a player could still try and play on the morning of his wedding day.” “He was much loved within the club, and the loud chants on prizegiving nights ‘there’s only one Gordie Dry’ were heart-warming… Lance said his father admitted using the less reliable toe method when kicking for goal, and liked to say he wasn’t as good at it as All Black great Don Clarke, but better than Queensland and Australian rugby league player, Mal Meninga, who had some dreadful lapses. Success breeds success, and Gordon recruited a series of proven performers, which made Easts such a powerhouse, and among the most dominant clubs in Wellington cricket history. At one stage it fielded 26 senior teams, at the time thought to be the most of any cricket club in the country, and incredibly 16 times in 18 years it won the premier prize in Wellington cricket, the Pearce Cup senior championship between 2002 and 2019. When Dry, who died on March 14 at the age of 80, known to everyone around the club as simply “Gordie”, became involved his sons Conrad and Lance were playing. Gordon and Lance became a formidable combination, the former the consummate volunteer, and Lance an intimidating presence on the field with his remarkably effective bowling, very reliable lower order batting, and aggressive captaincy.