Cricket on Ice was the brainchild of the Howick Pakuranga Cicket Cub and that novel idea recently won them the New Zealand Cricket Development Award for the Best Club Initiative – the first time in the club’s history it has claimed the lucrative award.
The club, led by Chairman Graeme Dennis, set out to come up with an interesting way to raise awareness of cricket and collect funds for Heart Children New Zealand. In the process the club attracted some big sporting names and had a fantastic day on the ice – in turn it got the attention of not only the national media, but international media outlets such as ESPN.
The idea of cricket on ice came about one afternoon. “The conversation took place between me and a few other club members over a cold one,” Dennis said. “When it was first considered I literally said na! But it progressed from there.”
From the initial light bulb came the preparation and although the club had some experience organising big events, it was the first time they had ever done something on ice. They utilised the local ice rink and laid a green wicket before putting a sheet of ice over the top. After the game the rink was turned into a dining area for their gala dinner after the event. “All the players wore their normal cricket shoes so there was no need for ice skates,” Dennis said. “We had a penalty shootout with the likes of Sir Richard Hadlee against some of the players from the New Zealand Ice Hockey team and ice dancers too.”
The Club’s amazing idea captured the attention of former and current BLACKCAPS including Dion Nash, Shane Bond, Tim Southee and Andy McKay who all participated in the festivities. The media also swarmed at the opportunity to cover something different. “We were on local television and we also ended up on ESPN which reaches over 35 million people through Asia,” Dennis exclaimed.
All in all the event encapsulated 150 community volunteers and over 800 locals packed into the ice rink to watch something that may never be repeated again. The club also raised over $17,000 for Heart Children New Zealand. “12 kids a week are born with heart defects. We’ve raised over $50,000 over the last three years for charity,” Dennis said. “Charity work is big for us and we’ll be looking at doing something else next season.”
