The man who died in a car crash a fortnight ago is being remembered as a family man who had a lasting impact on cricket in the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Russell Payne died in a three-car crash just north of Hampden a fortnight ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He and his wife Denise\u00a0 had three children and six grandchildren.<\/p>\n
His son Graham Payne\u00a0 said his father was “always a lot of fun and a [had] great sense of humour”.<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s been a great dad to all three of us and a great husband and a great grandfather.<\/p>\n
“He was 100% a family man and a real rock for all of us.<\/p>\n
“He had the patience of a saint, all the time in the world for his people.<\/p>\n
“People were the most important thing in his life and he connected with people in all walks of his life whether it be sport or farming or family or community, he just connected with people beautifully.”<\/p>\n
Graham said he shared a love of cricket with his father.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Cricket was a big thing for him and me.<\/p>\n
“I grew up playing the game from a young age and he was always a big influence.<\/p>\n
“Getting to play with him a couple of times was a highlight for me.”<\/p>\n
He had many “cherished memories” of Russell spending time with the family, particularly around their frequent camping trips to Nelson.<\/p>\n
Oamaru\u2019s Ted Tempero\u00a0 said Mr Payne was a “great friend” for more than seven decades.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019ve known Russ since form 3 at Waitaki Boys\u2019 High School, so that\u2019s 73 years ago,” Mr Tempero said.<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s three months older than me so I\u2019ve been allowed to call him the old fella.<\/p>\n
“He was a very friendly person; he\u2019d stop and talk to anyone. He was a good guy and a good family man.”<\/p>\n
Both men were made life members of North Otago Cricket and Union Cricket Club.<\/p>\n
The pair also had the Payne Tempero Cup, which is contested in North Otago senior club cricket, named after them.<\/p>\n
Mr Tempero said it was very special to share the honour with Mr Payne.<\/p>\n
“Especially when Union win it.”<\/p>\n
They also each received a medal from the International Cricket Council (ICC).<\/p>\n
To celebrate its centenary in 2009, the ICC gave out 1000 medals to volunteers across the world and Mr Payne and Mr Tempero both received one, as did former North Otago Cricket chairman Peter Cameron.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ted and his wife Val frequently holidayed with Russell and Denise including a trip to Wellington in 2009, he said.<\/p>\n
“North Otago Cricket sponsored us, the four of us the Paynes and the Temperos, to go up for a test match in Wellington.<\/p>\n
“Five days cricket \u2014 marvellous.”<\/p>\n
On the field, Mr Payne was one of the best opening batters North Otago had seen.<\/p>\n
He played the eighth-most games for the association with 58 and scored the sixth most runs (1865).<\/p>\n
He played 266 senior games for Union and remains the club\u2019s all time leading run scorer with 9101.<\/p>\n
His 1968-69 summer was one to behold \u2014 Mr Payne scored more than 1000 runs for both Union and North Otago.<\/p>\n
His 721 runs in the Borton Cup that season is still a Union single-season record today.<\/p>\n
Once his playing days were over, Mr Payne would spend more than a quarter century as groundsman at Centennial Park and received high praise from many big-name cricketers.<\/p>\n
“Martin Crowe said in a magazine that I read that he wished all New Zealand wickets were like Oamaru\u2019s,” Mr Tempero said.<\/p>\n
“Chris Harris sent him a letter congratulating him on the wicket that he had prepared and said it was one of the best he\u2019d played on in New Zealand that season.” Mr Cameron said.<\/p>\n
The Payne Pavilion at Centennial Park was unveiled in 2019 and\u00a0 bore his name in honour of his years of service, Mr Cameron said.<\/p>\n
“The reason he was deserving was, in my opinion, for the amount of time he\u2019d actually spent at what he called “The Park”.<\/p>\n
“Initially it was perhaps suggested the \u2018Russell Payne Pavilion\u2019 but in the end it was decided if Denise hadn\u2019t been as accepting as she was of the time he\u2019d spent away at the ground that he wouldn\u2019t have been able to achieve what he did.<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s why we called the Payne Pavilion, partially to acknowledge Denise as well.”<\/p>\n
Mr Cameron would remember Mr Payne as “a good bugger”.<\/p>\n
“When I arrived [to Oamaru], you could see the respect everybody had for him and for his achievements.<\/p>\n
“You\u2019d never ever find anyone that\u2019s got a bad word about Russell.<\/p>\n
“For those of us who enjoyed the game, there was always stories that he had of his time during the game.<\/p>\n
“He was just good to be around \u2014 he was good company.”<\/p>\n