Students take on PM in backyard cricket game
Cricket captains rub shoulders with stars
Four of Kāpiti and Paraparaumu College’s top cricketers were invited to Premier House last month to play a backyard game with the New Zealand Blackcaps and the Australian cricket team.
They were also lucky enough to have a game with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, and Sports Minister Chris Bishop got involved too.
The lucky students were Hunter Mahar and Charlotte Caudle who are captains of cricket teams at Kāpiti College, and Emma Mead and Quinn Weekes who are the captains of cricket teams at Paraparaumu College.
They were four of 20 students from around the Wellington region who were invited to the meet and greet.
Weekes said it was a really good day, and he and the other students got the chance to chat and take photos with some of their favourite cricket players.
He especially enjoyed talking to New Zealand cricketer Matt Henry, but said all of the players were really nice.
“They treated us just like one of them.”
The highlight of the day for him though was playing backyard cricket with Australia’s Usman Khawaja.
Like Weekes, Caudle also had a great day at Premier House.
“It was very nice meeting the New Zealand and Australia teams in such a casual environment.”
She said everyone participated and it was fun seeing the Prime Minister getting involved.
“I am told it was a good bash, with our very own Hunter being one of the close fielders when the Prime Minister batted,” said Kā piti College’s sports co-ordinator Alison Fitzmaurice.
Paraparaumu College deputy principal Aaron Mead accompanied the students to the event and said it was a wonderful occasion.
“The highlights were the way the Australian and New Zealand players mixed with the students.
“Playing back yard cricket with international players and the Prime Minster was an amazing experience,” he said.