Black Caps stars surprise Whangarei kids ahead of first ODI

It's not often New Zealand stars make a surprise visit to your cricket skills session.

But for a group of youths from around Northland - that's exactly what happened at Kensington Park yesterday.

Black Caps captain Kane Williamson, batsman Ross Taylor and bowlers Matt Henry and Adam Milne stopped by a coaching session organised by Northland police.

The Black Caps are in town ahead of the first one-day international against the West Indies at Cobham Oval tomorrow .

Black Caps Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Ross Taylor and skipper Kane Williamson. Photo/John Stone

The players got among the youth, giving them batting and bowling tips as they learnt the skills, before joining in a game with them.

Ten-year-old Bonnie-Rae Hadfield, who showed bowling promise, thought it was cool to get bowling tips from Ross Taylor. She learnt it was better to have a run up.

During the game Williamson was the umpire, and Taylor had a turn at batting while Milne and Henry bowled a few balls to the youngsters.

Santana Ruetoto, who started playing cricket this year, hit a couple of balls from Black Caps paceman Milne. He said it was "pretty easy" but reckoned Milne "wasn't even trying".

Santana Ruetoto makes contact while practicing batting. Photo/John Stone

Taylor said the players did not get to do these type of things very often.

"It's nice to see kids who are enthusiastic and want to talk about the game of cricket."

He said as it was the school holidays now, and being a father himself, he knew all about keeping children occupied.

"It's nice for the kids to be doing something and hopefully they get something out of it as well."

He said the youth were showing good talent.

"The wicketkeeper already sledged me before I'd even faced a ball."

Inspector Dean Robinson, who helped organise the day, said the force was working with youth all the time, building trust and confidence in the police.

They arranged for a group of about 17 children from the Bay of Islands, Otangarei, Tikipunga and Whau Valley headed to Kensington Park for a day to hone their cricket skills.

"We haven't gone out and sought cricketers, we've sought kids who may be interested in cricket but may not have the opportunities other kids have."

He said they spoke to schools to identify some of the children, who ranged in age from 9 to 12.

When the opportunity came up a couple of weeks ago, he thought: "Why couldn't we give an opportunity to kids who wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to do that?"

However, he said it was not only about giving the kids an opportunity to experience something they otherwise may not, but also exposing them to a different side of policing.

Mr Robinson said the children would be the future parents and drivers on the road in Northland and that's why they were so important.

The visit was part of ANZ's Get on Top of your Game programme which offers opportunities and assistance to cricketers, communities and schools around the country.

The programme is encouraging more applications from Northland.