Cricket fever is taking hold of Rotorua youngsters as hundreds choose to play it for their school summer sport.
Yesterday, Smallbone Park was full of primary school boys and girls batting, bowling and fielding, mimicking their idols currently taking part in the Cricket World Cup.
Parent Lana Hornby said playing cricket was a good chance for children to try something new. "It's good to get children interested in different sports and encourage them to try new things.
"Most of them are finding cricket interesting and are willing to give it a go."
Henry Worsp said it was about getting his children into team sports. "It's important they are exposed to the lessons team sports can teach them. Things like sharing and working as a team are really important life lessons and it's good to get them into it early.
Rochelle Hammond said she and her family were enjoying the Cricket World Cup. "We went to the South Africa versus Zimbabwe game in Hamilton and the kids absolutely loved it.
"They were pretty excited about it all and are keen to be playing it as well."
Keegan Hammond, 8, said he really liked watching the cricket.
"It's fun to watch and really fun to play. I was happy when we could choose it for summer sports at school. When we were watching the game in Hamilton I was hoping Zimbabwe would win and was a bit disappointed when they didn't but it was still a really good game to watch."