APPRECIATION: Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker waves thanks to the crowd. To his right are Martin Crowe and Sir Ian McKellen, and to his left umpires Ritchie McCaw and Conrad Smith.
CANTERBURY won both on and off the pitch as Sunday’s Fill the Basin charity cricket match raised more than $500,000 for Christchurch.
The Canterbury Invitational XI posted 225-7 in their 20 overs, while Wellington Legends XI could only manage 214 in front of the 10,000 crowd in the Twenty20 match.
The $500,000 tally comprised $130,000 in gate takings, $50,000 from Telecom, $50,000 from the TAB for the 28 sixes scored, text donations during the match of $38,000, $20,000 from New World and $100,000 from Fujitsu.
The latter lump sum came during a duel between two men who find model and actress Liz Hurley hot – Prime Minister John Key and former Australian cricketer Shane Warne
Mr Key, who put Hurley at the top of his “hot” list during a recent radio interview, came to the crease to face Warne, who has been keeping the gossip columns busy by seeing Hurley.
After facing an under-arm delivery, the Prime Minister smacked a ball to the boundary to earn the $100,000 pledged by Fujitisu to the fund.
Asked by Newswire for his thoughts on the contest, Opposition Leader Phil Goff quipped: “We’ve got the king of spin out there and we’ve also got Shane Warne”.
Politicians, film and sports stars paused together at 4pm to stand and bow their heads in a minutes silence to recognise the loss in Christchurch.
Among the celebrities were film star Russell Crowe, All Black captain Richie McCaw and actor Sir Ian McKellen.
In one of the highlights of the game, the crowd roared as Martin Crowe handed the ball to former All Black Tana Umaga and the cries of Uh-Ah-Umaga rang.
During the over he tempted a slog from former Black Cap Craig McMillan to claim his wicket.
Sir Richard Hadlee was happy that he has now been able to play all forms of cricket. The match was his first twenty20 game.
The match was televised on the TAB’s Trackside’s TV channel after the major networks declined to cover it.
Trackside presenters announced just before the broadcast that it was being done at very short notice and with help from TVNZ and Sky teams, including Sky commentators Ian Smith and Grant Nisbet.
Australia’s Channel 9 was there filming clips for news, and the occasion got rolling text coverage on website Yahoo.xtra sport.
On the web, nobody matched NewsWire’s over-by-over Twitter feed, which was done by journalism student Zac Kerr.
The day started with a curtain-raiser match between Wellington College and a selected eleven.
Work around the ground was done by volunteers such as gate-keepers Grace Hessell, Laura McElroy and Kate Norman.
“It’s such a cool concept,” said Ms Hessell. “We don’t think we are going to be hassled too much for tickets if people just turn up. It’s not that sort of game.”
Volunteers included Eric Franklin, a physiotherapist with Proactive Physiotherapy who helped to deal with any aches and pains, armed with a massage table.
The spirit was illustrated by food stalls like Acme Sausages, who donated all takings, which they hoped would be about $10,000.
“We do this sort of thing a lot,” said Acme owner Jeff Kennedy. “We see it as a win-win situation.”
Even some of the youngest spectators gave up a lot for the day.
Charlie Nevin forfeited his fifth birthday party so he could support his dad, Chris Nevin, who was playing in the match.
