"There's always just been something about it".
As a young lad, Peter Cameron used to race down to his local cricket ground, crossing his fingers someone would have a spot for him to fill.
"I used to go down to the rec in Port Chalmers and hope that a team down there on a Saturday afternoon had turned up with not enough players, so that I could get a game and just fill in and be part of it.
"And it didn’t matter whether it was a home team or a visiting team."
Cricket was in his blood from the early days. He played to a representative level for Otago, and that only built through the years when he landed in North Otago.
"My parents and brothers have always given back and been involved in sports administration as well. I suppose it was something I was bred into."
But Cameron’s contributions have gone far further than just giving back.
After a remarkable stint of 23 years, the long-serving chairman recently stepped down from North Otago Cricket’s top role.
Cameron, who has been on the North Otago board for 28 years, will remain as a board member for the next term, helping pass on his "considerable amount of institutional knowledge" to the next generation coming through the ranks.
He took over as chairman from Mark Julius in 2002, when Cameron looked around the board room and thought "perhaps I’m the most logical" next person to lead.
"Then I went and told my wife I was going to do it for a couple of years just to help them out. Twenty-three years later . . ."
Cricket has always been about more than the game, with his two sons, Glynn and Scott, also "cricket tragics" in their own rights.
Glynn is the only person to have played and coached North Otago at all representative levels — he is the current Hawke Cup co-coach — and Scott, who is the association’s vice-president, is known as the historian. He spent years trawling through old papers, scoresheets and records to record North Otago’s history dating back 125 years.
"There’s no other district in New Zealand that has the history in a way we have. Many other districts would kill to have somebody who’s completed the history of the organisation," Cameron said.
Having his grandchildren who were also keen cricketers also gave Cameron the desire to continue and help shape the sport for the future of the region.
Cameron has never been one to do things by halves.
At one stage, he was the president of the Union club and captain of the Union senior team while also serving as North Otago chairman.
He is also a life member of Union, North Otago and Otago Cricket, showing his commitment across the region.
A heavy workload has been littered with plenty of highlights through the years, and three Hawke Cup victories are close to the top of that list.
North Otago secured their inaugural Hawke Cup victory over Manawatū in 2010 — "that was very special" — and won the cup again in 2016 and 2021, under the guidance of Hamish McMurdo and Pete Cartwright respectively.
"It’s not only the players — it’s what goes on behind the scenes that can make a team," Cameron said.
Seeing North Otago players reach higher honours, such as David Sewell and Nathan Smith (Black Caps), Duncan Drew, Neil Rushton and Llew Johnson (Otago Volts), and Molly Loe (Otago Sparks, now playing for Canterbury) had been special.
"You feel as if you’re part of it and then seeing when Nathan was selected for the Black Caps, his acknowledgement of North Otago, and his roots, and where he came from is very special, I think," Cameron said.
Bringing international development officers into the region played a part in their own careers, as well as the future of the association. Many were still living in New Zealand or playing in the region.
"They’ve found a pretty special place to reside and to work for us. I think a lot of them have left here better people with a better understanding of life.
"I have tended to push them out of [their] comfort zone. . . to give them the opportunity to, I suppose, grow as people."
North Otago has had two "exceptional" groundsmen in Russell Payne and Ricky Whyte during Cameron’s tenure
Away from the field, building the Payne Pavilion — named after the long-serving groundsman — at Centennial Park about five years ago had been a big undertaking but gave the association a home.
"Until this was built, we didn’t really have a home," Cameron said.
He had also been instrumental in prudent financial management for the association during a challenging period.
"When I started, I think we had about $5000. Now we’ve got reserves of $140,000.
"It takes a lot of work to build reserves."
Hosting the South Island primary schools cricket tournament twice had also been great and he was disappointed the initiative had since been scrapped by New Zealand Cricket.
Covid had been the main challenge during his tenure, dealing with the unknown and figuring things out on the move.
He also battled away representing Otago on the New Zealand Cricket Districts Association, pushing for more funding from New Zealand Cricket for Hawke Cup programmes.
He pushed for non-Kiwi players, who had played three consecutive seasons locally, to be considered New Zealanders, not imports, for the representative game.
Numbers fluctuated through the years, but Cameron said North Otago were fortunate to still have solid numbers of teams and to produce three club competitions.
North Otago had arich history spanning more than 125 years and Cameron was proud of how far the association had come.
"Look around you and look what we’ve got . . . and it’s not all because of me. It’s because of a group of exceptional people that have been around me over long periods of time.
"It’s been a special time because of what we have achieved."
Ben Coleman will take over as chairman.
