Fragile Fern – Cystopteris fragilis

Martin Maxwell Fleming Luckie OBE (30 January 1868 – 3 July 1951) was a New Zealand cricketer who played two matches of first-class cricket 29 years apart – one in 1891 and the other in 1920. He became a prominent cricket administrator and a city councillor in Wellington. He was twice deputy mayor: from 1929 to 1931, and again from 1936 to 1947.^[1][2]

Luckie was born on 30 January 1868 in Nelson. He worked as a barrister and solicitor in Wellington.^[3]

Luckie played first-class cricket for Wellington in 1891 and 1920. He was primarily a left-arm slow bowler. He played lower grade cricket when his senior days were over and did not retire from active play until he was 70 years old. He later served as President of the Wellington Cricket Association.

The Wellington City Council named Martin Luckie Park in Berhampore after him, which houses playing fields for both cricket and soccer.^[4]

Luckie served two separate terms as a Wellington city councillor. In 1913 he won a seat on the council on a Citizens' League ticket which he was to hold until 1931 when he did not seek re-election as a councillor. That year he stood for Mayor of Wellington as an independent against Thomas Hislop. He polled well but lost. In 1933 he made a return to local-body politics and spent another spell on the council until he retired in 1947.^[5]

He stood for parliament as the Reform Party's candidate for the seat of Wellington South in the 1928 general election. He came runner-up to Labour's Robert McKeen who was likewise a city councillor.^[6]

In the 1948 Birthday Honours, Luckie was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.^[7]

Luckie died in Wellington on 3 July 1951.^[1]

• Betts, G.M. (1970). Betts on Wellington: A City and its Politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0 589 00469 7.

• Martin Luckie at CricketArchive (subscription required)
• Martin Luckie at ESPNcricinfo