 In March 1914 , the Otago Cricket Association ( OCA ) offered Crawford a three @-@ year contract worth £ 350 per year , and a share in the management of a sports store , to play for them . Briefly returning to Adelaide after the tour , he resigned from his South Australia contract before moving to Dunedin in June 1914 . The South Australian Cricket Association were widely criticised for failing to retain Crawford ; in their defence , the committee publicly stated that Crawford had been offered an increased deal and had promised to turn down any offers made to him in New Zealand , but went back on his word . Later historians — Nigel Hart in his biography of Crawford , and Chris Harte in his A History of Australian Cricket ( 1993 ) — condemned Crawford as arrogant and mercenary for his behaviour towards South Australia . Harte also suggests that Crawford left Australia with many debts . Burns , however , suggests that Crawford may have wanted to maximise his earnings to support his upcoming marriage , and notes that his South Australian team @-@ mates held no grudges and even organised a farewell presentation . Once in his new position , Crawford immediately organised a Colts team which produced several future Otago players . While qualifying to play for Otago , he played club cricket in Dunedin , scoring 559 runs and taking 88 wickets . During the 1914 – 15 season he appeared in four first @-@ class games for Otago , in which he scored 337 runs and took 30 wickets . He briefly returned to Australia in 1915 to marry Anita Schmidt in Melbourne in April . Schmidt — from Adelaide and described in the society press as a " beauty " — and Crawford met in 1912 when the former was 18 years old and became well @-@ known as a couple at fashionable events in Adelaide . Burns suggests that the wedding took place in Melbourne rather than Adelaide because Crawford may have been avoiding his creditors . Two days after the wedding , the couple returned to New Zealand . 
