Posted October 21

The management and organisation of our national summer sport is in good hands, as I discovered when I attended the media briefing at Eden Park recently that was designed to bring everyone up to date. It succeeded in that aspect, very well, and it also had a secondary but significant motive in trying to bring the media into a more positive mindset.

The comprehensive report showed that there are now 55,000 boys and 11,000 girls playing cricket, along with some 88,000 playing organised club cricket. That's why there is such interest in the game, yet there is still much to be done. New Zealand Cricket is well aware of this and has some excellent plans.

They know that the only way the media will be satisfied is by winning at international level. The record for women's' and youth cricket has been excellent, runners-up in the last three World Cups. It is always the senior men that cop the brunt, partly as the result of the highly successful 1980's when we had a core of fulltime county professionals of a very high standard. The "amateurs" then were also performers who had come through the mill of Sheffield Shield cricket or many years of hotly contested Shell cricket here.

New Zealand Cricket's High Performance Plan is designed to produce internationally competitive Men's and Women's teams on a sustainable basis, stemming from a strong participation base in clubs and schools. To this end they have a powerful structure providing for all the elements of a diverse and complex sport with a high profile.

There are the varieties of playing structures with a wide range of competition at all levels. There is a positive talent identification programme and an expert support team for all national sides. There is now a programme in place for the retention of first class players by contract and performance reward, and there is a substantial playing education and coaching programme right through the grades and the regions.

Behind all this is a development plan aimed at primary and secondary schools separately, as well as a club programme that allows the progressive clubs to take advantage of the infrastructure to strengthen their own operations.

Internationally New Zealand has a significant presence in the game's administration. The Chairman, Sir John Anderson, has a key role in future planning while CEO Christopher Doig is in charge of tour planning. John Reid, Operations Manager here, represents new Zealand on the International Cricket Committee; a valid appointment after his excellent test playing career (six centuries in 19 tests) and his long stint as executive for Auckland Cricket.

This brief description takes no account of the many additional activities undertaken by New Zealand Cricket. They cover many different areas:

• · Playing conditions: Portable pitch development to allow sharing grounds with rugby
• · Night cricket: All major grounds will offer exciting cricket under lights soon
• · Umpiring: An extensive recruiting, training and performance programme
• · Training: A live-in high performance centre with Michael Watt's benefaction
• · Marketing: In-house publication and presentation, including special media attention
• · Finance: A wide range of sponsorships adding to revenue generated from publicity
• · Fraternity: A 50,000 database to provide a link to those interested in the game
• · Future: An awareness that there is much to be done, and a determination to do it

In the meantime we will get a line on the present level with the Wills International Cup about to be played in Bangladesh. This country is thrilled with the appearance of all nine test nations in the first knockout competition. Their preparation has been meticulous if the reports coming daily over the Internet are a guide. I can't wait for play to commence! ENDS (717 words)

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