Maiming of oak was just not cricket
2008-11-06
THE Wellington Cricket Club is a well-known institution, which has been in existence for over 100 years and the Pen Basson Cricket Field has long been the scene of friendly rivalry between the home team and players from elsewhere in the country, as well as abroad. Just past the gates which mark the field’s entrance stands a single, venerable oak tree, probably as old as the club itself. On Saturdays in summer, spectators are accustomed to picnicking in its cool, leafy shade, while enjoying the “slap of leather on willow”. The verdant field with its signature oak (maintained by dedicated groundsman Hendrik Lakey) is a source of pride to club members and local residents alike, which makes the fact that the tree has now been damaged in a savage and unwarranted attack all the more distressing. Two deep incisions scarring the bark on either side of its trunk, were made according to dismayed club Chairman Niel le Roux, on Sunday morning a fortnight ago, by two local children armed with a large hand-saw. When apprehended, the children indicated the home of the neighbouring “tannie” who had paid them to saw the tree down. Confronted by an irate le Roux, the woman, who lives beside the club entrance, across the road from the tree, admitted that her original intention was to saw it down herself, but lacking the strength to do so, she had hired the children to complete the deed. Failing this, she had planned to inflict deep enough cuts into the bark so as to apply poison, which would ultimately kill the tree. Le Roux says she has lodged several complaints over the years, most of which they have tried to accommodate, but they could not accede to her request to chop down the tree as it is on municipal property. It is hoped that the tree will survive the attack. - Maggie Follett
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