David’s passion for the sport was ignited when he played for the Waitaki Boys High 1st XI in Oamaru from 1957-59. His association with West Christchurch University beginning in 1960 when he returned to Christchurch. David was a member of the senior team during the 1963 -64 -65-66 seasons and although it was difficult to get much of a bat with two of NZs top batsmen in the senior team it was a privilege to play in such illustrious company. In 1966 David left Christchurch to enhance his career and enjoy the adventures as a land surveyor in the towns and jungles of Sarawak, Borneo
Returning from Sarawak in 1973, David began playing President’s grade in the 1974/75 season and continued to do so for the next 30 years ….30 years with some good to great cricketers, interesting personalities, plenty of humour and a regular drink or two
1975/76 was a highlight year for the David and the team. Statistically David had a very good year and it was a buzz for him to Captain and lead the team to victory in the Presidents Competition that year
1988/89 was again a highlight year. David was again captain of the team and with a talented team including two former “Black Caps” we came 2nd in a tougher competition for 16 teams
David considered it an honour to have played alongside Brian Hastings and Graham Dowling who both went onto excel on the international stage and he was quite content to just have been in the senior side in the 60’s. David’s presidents grade philosophy was to have fun, have at least 5 good players, 3-4 average players and the rest to have verbal skills to compensate for their lack cricketing skills. He was also passionate to ensure that everybody participated and everybody got a chance.
Over the years David has given something give back to the club. David, a surveyor by profession (founding Fox & Associates, 1981), spent a weekend in 1973 and with the assistance of Al Brown and others surveyed the ground and provided a development plan to the Waimairi District Council for them to re-level and sow the fields.[1]
BWCUCC Presidents : David has played 314 matches and during that time was involved some very memorable partnerships. (Statistics at the time of writing in December 2020)
4th highest 1st wicket partnership:
134 J.McKinnon 78, D.Fox 45, Hintz R.H. vs. East Shirley (1974/75)
10th highest 3rd wicket partnership:
98 M. Jones 84 & D. Fox 37 vs Riccarton (1997/98)
3rd Highest 5th wicket partnership:
119 D. Fox 87 & E. White 46 vs Police (1985/86)
5th Highest 5th wicket partnership:
89 D. Fox 72 & J. Thompson 41* vs Lancaster Park (1976/77)
12th Highest 5th wicket partnership:
70 D. Fox 57* & G. Brown 43 vs. Old Collegians B (1976/ 77)
13th highest 5th wicket partnership:
66 D. Fox 36 & R. Chisholm 23* vs Hosptial (1991/92)
9th best 8th wicket partnership:
48 D. Fox 84* & A. Grayburn 10 vs. Hospital (1984/85)
Fox & Associates have been sponsoring the BWCU Presidents grade for a number of years and fittingly, the BWCU Presidents grade team call themselves “The Foxes”. After a drought the Team again became competition winners in the 2012/2013 season and have been very successful since then, under the captaincy of David Robertson.
David presented a trophy to the team, called the Dave Fox Leadership Cup which is presented to the President’s captain for Leadership (or the lack thereof)
Hagley Oval . David’s other significant contribution to cricket involved acting as a catalyst pushing the case for Hagley Oval to become a Test Cricket venue.
Back in 2004 David had been invited by the Min. for the Environment to be a member of the working party that produced the “ Urban Design Protocol ” and the 7Cs,
Very briefly, the presentation David gave to the Christchurch City Council on the 6th of December, 2012 involved a 7C’s analysis (Context, Character, Creativity, Choice, Collaboration, Custodianship and Connectivity) of the proposal to create a Test wicket at Hagley Oval.
David was an active participant in the subsequent Court hearing that finally granted Canterbury Cricket permission to proceed with Construction of the Hadlee Pavilion and the Hagley Oval …….what a victory for the City.!
You can read more about David’s submission here – https://www.foxsurvey.co.nz/2013/08/test-cricket-in-christchurch-why-why-not/
David has many fond memories of his playing days. One he recalls, is looking through the Bush Inn windows, whilst discussing the game with the team and drinking a beer or two whilst supervising his kids sitting on top of his car. Then fond memories of shots, catches, wickets, family support and the guys he has played with.
Acknowledgement to Arun Kumar Manickavasagam for assisting with the biography
[1] “The history of Burnside Park” – Arthur Grayburn
