Cricket loses a stalwart servant in Graeme Blanchard

At a time when cricket in New Zealand is heavily reliant on its enthusiasts to help expand the game among its lower levels, it is tragic that it should lose such a dynamic servant as Timaru's Graeme Blanchard. "Blanch" died in Christchurch Hospital on Tuesday, almost a week after suffering a stroke.

Aged 53, he was the inspiration behind the revival of cricket in South Canterbury where he spent 10 years as operations officer for Cricket South Canterbury while also managing a small farm unit that he owned. Blanchard was the perfect man for his role - an abiding love of cricket was matched by a tenacity for the game's advancement, especially among the young.

A product of Timaru, having been schooled at Timaru Main School and Timaru Boys' High School, he was an enthusiastic cricketer from his youth and in later years had the happy knack of drawing top players to the Timaru region to coach the local children. An engaging personality, he was ideally suited to his role. It was a measure of the respect in which he was held that so many players made themselves available.

But by the very nature of country cricket, eking out an existence can be a yearly struggle and a degree of what might best be described as 'entrepreneurial skills' are often needed to derive some much-needed income for the local association. Blanchard was a master in giving his game profile and an income, and it was typical of his selfless devotion to the game and its players that the last memory many will have of him is his unstinting work at the Mark Parker Memorial weekend, when teams Parker, a victim of the Bali bombing of 2002, played for, Dunedin Metropolitan and Onslow, from Wellington, took part in the weekend's activities while also enjoying a celebrity dinner.

Harvey King, the chairman of Cricket South Canterbury, said Blanchard was "one of a kind. He was a legend amongst us. The things he did, he did for everybody's benefit. We will miss him dearly.

"He was in his position for about 10 years and was one of the first on-board among the minor associations, and he did it all himself. He was a visionary. We will find it hard to replace him. While he was committed to South Canterbury, he was also a great club man for the Star club, of which he was a life member."

Richard Reid, the chief executive of Canterbury Cricket, said: "He was such a good guy. Quite often dealing with him you knew you were being done, but didn't care because he would do it in such a nice way. There are unsung people like him in many sports over the country. His death is a dreadful blow. Everybody will miss him."

He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Cheryl, and children, Kelly and Julian. His funeral service will be held at Timaru's Community Sports Trust Stadium at 1.30pm on Monday.