Beyond the boundary – late cricketer honoured for lifelong dedication

LOCAL cricket identity John Buttrum has posthumously received an Order of Australia medal for service to cricket and the community.

The long-time Lismore resident, who died of a heart attack at the age of 82 in 2023, was a life member of the Far North Coast Cricket Council and served as president from 2007 to 2021.

 

 

He was also a life member of Mullumbimby-Brunswick Cricket Club and worked in a range of voluntary roles, including as a coach and as president in 1979.

Mr Buttrum was also a founding member and treasurer of the charity Lord’s Taverners Northern NSW, which raises money to help underprivileged and disadvantaged young people, including those with disabilities, and engages with them through cricket and other sports.

 

 

Mr Buttrum’s 85-year-old wife Robyn said she was extremely proud of her husband of 62 years, but she’s not sure if he would have accepted the award.

“He probably would have said, ‘we don’t do all this volunteer work to get awards, we do it because we want to’,” she said.

“I’ve been talked into accepting the award in Sydney in April so the grandkids can see it and know how good poppy was, but I will probably cry.”

Mr Buttrum was born and raised in Lismore, but the couple were both teachers who spent time working throughout NSW.

He also worked locally at Main Arm Upper Public School and Tregeagle Public School, where he taught until he retired.

 

 

Mrs Buttrum said her husband’s love of cricket was life-long.

“I guess it started off because he was a good cricketer and as a 14-year-old I think he was sent to Sydney as a promising junior,” she said.

“It would have been Country Week or something down there.

“He played wherever we were teaching.

“He was a very good man and did a lot for a lot of people.”