KEY POINTS:
It has been a question perplexing the minds of cricket administrators for years: how to sell the game to Maori and Pacific Island kids, particularly those from working-class areas.
Hooked on Cricket is into its fourth year and while first-class
cricket remains a largely white, middle-class pursuit,
former New Zealand fast bowler Kerry Walmsley says the programme has brought 65 kids from lower-decile schools into organised Saturday competitions.
Last week the Hooked on Cricket roadshow, an initiative of the New Zealand Players' Association funded through the NZ Community Trust, hit Papatoetoe Cricket Club in South Auckland. It had already been to South Dunedin, Woolston-Aranui in Christchurch, Porirua in Wellington, Rotorua and New Plymouth.
In attendance were most of the Auckland Aces, including Black Cap Scott Styris.
"We focus on the low-decile schools," Walmsley says, "where there has been no tradition of
cricket. Seventy-five per cent of the schools in the programme see this as the focal point of their cricket year. We've got to keep hitting
these schools and these areas until playing cricket becomes part of
their tradition."
The programme provides coaching and two scholarships to each school. The scholarships pay for annual fees, clothing and gear, costs that are off-putting to many parents.
For the programme to be truly successful, Walmsley admits, there comes a point when the families have to take over.
While it is unusual by New Zealand standards to see so many brown faces playing the game, there is nothing unusual about the cricket.
"The Pacific Island kids tend to have these really natural bowling actions," he says. "Most of them have never been taught but are very quickly able to run in and bowl with traditional-looking actions."
The athleticism and potential of Pacific Island children has long excited cricket authorities but the sport has never taken off in these communities. Ross Taylor, who is part-Samoan, said on the tour to England he hoped his example would encourage more Pacific Island youngsters to give cricket a go.
NZ Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan is one who thinks the sport's new-found riches will act as a drawcard for natural athletes who might have previously picked rugby.
Cricket08, part of NZC's Keep Cricket Strong in Schools campaign, saw 97 international and first-class players visit 126 schools last month.
New Zealand is not the only country trying to tap into different cultures to boost playing numbers.
Outgoing Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O'Connor was reported as saying the biggest failure of his term was the lack of indigenous Australian players. While New Zealand has had some Maori players, Jason Gillespie is the only Australian test player to acknowledge his Aboriginal descent publicly.