The Cricketers Arms was a NZ Breweries owned pub, restaurant and disco located inside the brutalist style, concrete bunker, on the corners of Tory and Vivian Streets in Wellington’s Te Aro precinct. The venue featured a public bar in the basement, the “Sticky Wicket” family bar and restaurant on the first floor and Wellington’s first computer lit glass floor disco on the top level.
Presumably named for its close proximity to the Basin Reserve cricket ground, the Cricketers Arms was a venue for many mainstream live acts in the 1970’s and 80’s. Chart topping pub rockers The Dudes filmed their video for “Bliss” there, capturing the dark and intoxicating aroma of that era’s public bars.
As the public’s taste in drinking establishments changed during the mid-80’s boom the Cricketers started to come into play as a venue for punk bands in 1986, with the bar introducing the “Steinie Club” in 1987 to get around some liquor sales hours and Sunday trading laws.
In the early 2000’s the downstairs former public bar became a live music venue again operating under the name Happy and later Puppies.
| Address | corner of Tory and Vivian Streets |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | |
| Type | pub, venue |
| Built | |
| Opened | 1970 |
| Renovated | |
| Expanded | |
| Closed | 1988 |
| Demolished | |
| Owner |
