Louisa Wall: Sportspeople unite in time of tsunami crisis

Marina Erakovic made the most of her wildcard entry into the main draw of the ASB Classic and realised some of the potential coach Chris Lewis no doubt visualises.

Her victory over Canadian Marie-Eve Pelletier provided an excellent beginning to her WTA professional career and one she will remember for a long time.

The support of the home crowd certainly inspired her performance and I've a feeling this young New Zealander will provide many reasons to celebrate in the years to come.

Erakovic's success came in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami and the sporting fraternity has certainly shown its power in offering support.

I was in Perth when news of the catastrophe broke.

The Australian cricketers immediately contributed their entire second test match fee to a relief fund.

And it was great to see New Zealand Cricket support the decision of Sri Lanka to postpone the series in New Zealand with the support of the International Cricket Council, given that the regulations say a tour can be cancelled only if there is a security threat, the Government of a team involved calls the side back, or if the two playing countries agree to postpone the tour.

Any breach of these conditions could have resulted in a US$2 million ($2.8 million) fine.

Given the ICC criteria for cancellation and the lack of information to enable an accurate assessment at the beginning of the disaster, it took a few days to postpone the tour and it was great to have confirmation from the ICC that there would be no fines.

NZ Cricket chief Martin Snedden hopes the Sri Lanka tour can be rescheduled within two years, ensuring television rights, which make up the bulk of tour revenues, will not be lost.

NZ Cricket is raising funds through its website for World Vision and plans to donate $1 for every ticket sold for the Twenty20 match against Australia on February 17 to the tsunami appeal. The Kiwi players will also be donating signed shirts from the game in Auckland for auction.

In Australia, some sporting organisations have joined forces under a tsunami sports appeal initiative to raise funds for the Red Cross.

Administrators from Australian Rules, rugby league, rugby, hockey, cricket, horse racing, soccer and basketball have already pledged their support and plan a gala sportsman's dinner-auction to where sporting memorabilia will be knocked down to the highest bidder.

Monday's tsunami relief charity cricket match between an Asian XI and a Rest of the World XI selection (including Kiwis Stephen Fleming, Chris Cairns and Daniel Vettori and managed by Steve Waugh) is hoping to attract 80,000 fans to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Swedish tennis star Jonas Bjorkman has enlisted the support of many touring tennis pros to raise funds with an initiative launched during the Hopman Cup.

And German tennis star Nicolas Kiefer has come up with a novel way of fundraising, saying he would donate $100 for every ace he served in Australian tournaments.

Seven-time Formula One motor racing world champion Michael Schumacher pledged $14 million to be used for schools and kindergartens in the crisis region.

His friend and bodyguard Burkhard Cramer and his two sons died in Phuket.

Internationally, the International Olympic Committee is pledging $2 million, Fifa, the world's football governing body, has donated the same amount, as has the English Premier League.

In the US, NFL and NBA teams have collected large sums from fans at games and the International Rugby Board has made a donation to UN World Food Programme.

And the Barmy Army has raised more than £10,000 ($26,000) in South Africa and have planned a benefit night on the first day of the fourth test between England and South Africa.

This is what being a member of a global society is all about.

* Louisa Wall is a former New Zealand rugby and netball representative