Francis Cloke (1860-1941), an early heritage poet in New Zealand and mostly unrecognized, wrote a cricket poem on Australian great Don Bradman. I came across his book doing the Poetry Archive of New Zealand Aotearoa in Wellington.
Cloke’s only collection (privately printed), Songs of New Zealand and Various Verses (Auckland, NZ: Dawson Printing), appeared in three editions: 1924, 1925, 1931. A regional Auckland poet, Cloke wrote popular verses on various Kiwi themes: sport (cricket, rugby, league, yachting, etc.), the landscape, towns and bays, and celebrations of church, political, historical and military figures, including aviator Jean Batten. He was a contemporary of other New Zealand poets like the recently republished Robert J Pope (1865-1949).
FRANCIS CLOKE
The Greatest Batsman
Don Bradman is a masterpiece,
Outstanding far above the rest;
To see the strokes he can release,
When
he is playing in the Test;
He has a stroke for every one,
If
fast, or medium, or slow;
They’re all the same to Master Don,
His
cuts and drives doth plainly show;
His judgement is remarkable,
His
footwork there none can surpass;
His sight so keen that sees the ball,
It
finds the boundary ’mid the grass;
He guards the wicket with all care,
And
plays the ball so gracefully;
But when he hits he drives it where
No
man was placed by captaincy.
Poem © Francis Cloke
Poem from Songs of New Zealand and Various Verses, 3rd ed., Auckland, 1931
I wrote an article about Cloke’s rugby league poem on Carlaw Park for National Poetry Day 2015: National Poetry Day poem: Carlaw Park by Francis Cloke | Poetry Archive of New Zealand Aotearoa.
Previous posts on his contemporary Robert J Pope, a cricketer, known for his rugby poetry, are:
Robert J. Pope - NZ poet and cricketer
New selection of cricketer Robert J Pope’s poetry
Robert J Pope's King Willow reissued
