NZC side wins inaugural parliamentary cricket match

Snedden receives a cheque for $250,000 from New Zealand Community Trust trustee Mike Dearsley

A New Zealand Cricket invitational side captained by Stephen Fleming won the Parliamentary Cricket Cup in a hotly-contested inaugural match against the Parliamentary cricket team at Wellington College yesterday.

The NZC invitational team performed well in the 15-over innings at 216 for two.

The Parliamentary cricket team saw out the 15 overs at 132 for seven.

Fleming, Lou Vincent, Mathew Sinclair and NZC chief executive Martin Snedden put in solid performances for the NZC side.

Bill English, Paul Swain and Brian Donnelly also played well against imposing opposition.

The Speaker of the House, the Rt Hon Jonathan Hunt, required all his adjudication skills in his capacity as match umpire with much appealing by both sides.

The cup was presented to NZC side by New Zealand Community Trust chief executive Bill Day.

The inaugural game was played to launch the New Zealand Community Trust's $250,000 sponsorship of the NZC secondary schools and club development programme.

The secondary school and club development programme is stage two of a full national programme that was launched four years ago with an initial focus on recruiting and upskilling primary school cricketers. The second stage of the programme focuses on the development of secondary school and club cricket and the retention of young cricketers as they make the transition into clubs.

At a brief ceremony to mark the sponsorship, Snedden said the New Zealand Community Trust's sponsorship of cricket was extremely important to the future of the game.

"Through various grants to districts and clubs the New Zealand Community Trust contributes millions of dollars each year to grass roots cricket. This funding is essential to the running of cricket, which early census figures show is played by more than 100,000 New Zealanders," he said.