Cricket: Walmsley breaking down cultural barriers

Kerry Walmsley is white. Nothing unusual in that, most cricketers in this country are.

But Walmsley, with the help of eight Black Caps, is taking cricket to South Auckland on Tuesday. An area rich in ethnic diversity that has never been considered a hotbed of cricket.

Hooked On Cricket is the brainchild of the Players' Association. Six-a-side primary school tournaments will be held in Papatoetoe and Porirua and sponsored by law firm Bell Gully. It's an idea aimed primarily at promoting cricket in areas that don't get to see much of the sport.

And while the tournaments are seen as a way of thanking the community for their support, the driving force behind the project is to promote Maori and Pacific Island involvement in cricket. Those communities are seen as an untapped talent pool.

"The demographic we've targeted in South Auckland and down in Porirua are those communities that don't have a lot of direct opportunity to participate in cricket, or rather don't get many opportunities to get up close with the players," said Walmsley, who has been organising the South Auckland tournament.

"Obviously the Maori and Pacific Island kids have a huge passion for sport but we don't see the numbers coming through in cricket. So again we thought let's come up with a concept that might spark interest.

"Because a lot of these kids are genetically so much bigger and stronger, they tend to gravitate towards ball and contact sports."

New Zealand has had few players of Maori or Pacific Island heritage play at the highest level. Heath Davis, Murphy Su'a, Shane Bond and Adam Parore are rarities who have made it through to national selection.

A Sparc survey showed participation levels in cricket were significantly lower for Maori and Pacific Islanders than they were for Pakeha, although it didn't really take a survey to tell you what you can find on any suburban park on any given summer Saturday.

While cricket is massively popular in many of the countries colonised by the English, particularly India, it has never taken off among Maori.

Ironically, Maori men in particular seem to prefer softball, a sport originally designed for women.

Walmsley has been coaching at the eight schools involved in the Auckland tournament - Manurewa West, Manurewa South, Homai, Viscount, Papatoetoe South, East Tamaki, Rongomai and Fairburn - and is excited by what he's seen.

"Part of the programme Roger Twose down in Wellington has done, and what I've done up here, is go around to all the participating schools for a coaching session. I wasn't sure what attitude they'd have towards it but they just really enjoyed it and got right into it. There was definitely a spark there.

"If even one of these kids says 'Mum, I'm pretty keen on this cricket thing and want to keep on playing' then it'll be a success."

Eight Black Caps have been assigned to captain a team - Daryl Tuffey, the Marshall twins, Scott Styris, Chris Martin, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills and Andre Adams. In Wellington, Shane Bond, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram and Craig McMillan will captain teams.

"We wanted to say thank you for the support the community gives us, so we came up with the concept that we could give back to the community directly," Walmsley said.

Every team will win cricket gear for their school. The tournament will be held at Papatoetoe Cricket Club, in its centenary year.

Walmsley hopes the tournament will become an annual event that will filter down to the South Island, where they also hope to tap into the same demographic.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY