It's long been said that Wellington is the sporting capital of New Zealand. And yesterday's charity cricket match at the Basin Reserve did nothing at all to diminish that suggestion.
Stephen Fleming is a Cantabrian, even though he lives in the capital. We recall him captaining the Canterbury side at a national under-20 tournament that we umpired at many, many moons ago. Even then, he was an articulate young man with a maturity way beyond his years, and a natural leader. It was no surprise that he became arguably our best ever captain.
That leadership came to the fore yesterday with a match hastily convened by Fleming. Former Black Caps rallied to the cause, and the Basin Reserve was packed to the rafters on a glorious Wellington afternoon. The Canterbury Invitation XI fittingly beat their Wellington counterparts in a marvellous afternoon of entertainment.
But it was Shane Warne and John Key who stole the show; here, by the magic of YouTube, is the clash between the Sheik of Tweak and the Prime Minister, which added $100,000 to the day's total:
You'll note in the early moments of the video that Phil Goff was watching longingly from the sidelines; was this a case of sport imitating political life? The crowd roared its approval as Key swatted three boundaries, one almost carrying for six. A great time was had by all; even the great bowler who was on the receiving end of some sledging from the PM.
Most importantly, yesterday's match raised over $500,000 for the Christchurch earthquake relief effort. All we can say is a huge Keeping Stock "Well Done" to Stephen Fleming and to everyone who came to the party.
7 comments:
Inv2 - you'll be relieved to know that I'm actively resisting the urge to make light of the title of this post, "Fill the basin" etc.
See how far I've come!
You've done well Rob; far better than Oscar Wilde, who is reputed to have said
I can resist anything except temptation.
Keep up the good work!
I feel compelled to single out Stafford and the TAB for their short notice support with their dedicated channel and OB facilities that enabled the world to share what was a remarkable event that proved again that as a nation what we can do is so wide ranging and generous.
Big thanks to all for a day of nostalgia, community service and above all fun.
Well said Gravedodger. I'm not a punter myself, but applaud the TAB for enabling live coverage of the match, AND chucking $50k into the pot.
Inv don't forget the TAB is a government body - it is not privately owned.
Thats a huge result for the earthquake.
I suppose now the easy part clean up and receovery is done.
The hard part - the rebuild is only just beginning. Our support as a nation will be ongoing and note just the one off feel good that is dervied from Sunday's event.
And to counterpoint Christchurch there is the Japanese disaster. Talk about a 3 headed monster. It reminds us how lucky we are here in NZ, even Christchurch.
Regards.
Shane Warne was no small player in the generosity of spirit department.
Good on him, too.
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