Trans-Tasman Cricket Heading To Hamilton

Some of the best-known names in Australian cricket are set to play a team of our own legends in a Titans International Twenty20 coming to New Zealand next month.
 
Announcing the fixture today, Northern Districts Cricket CEO David Cooper said the Titans International Twenty20 match, to be played at Hamilton’s international cricket venue Seddon Park on February 24, will provide the sporting public with a welcome burst of quality, live international cricket on their doorstep in a home summer that’s otherwise truncated by the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup taking place in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh over February and March.
 
The Titans clash between the Samsung Masters NZCPA XI and their Australian Cricketers’ Association counterparts follows on from a successful 2009 event played between the two teams in Wellington. The official curtainraiser to a National Bank Series Twenty20 International between India and New Zealand, that match featured instantly recognisable names such as Stephen Fleming, Dion Nash, Simon Doull, Andrew Jones, Ian Healy, Darren Lehmann, Brad Hogg and Greg Blewett. NZCPA spokesperson Glen Sulzberger said the public can expect another stellar line-up when the 2011 teams are announced later this month.
 
Plans are also afoot to televise the Titans match, which has been officially endorsed by New Zealand Cricket and is supported by Northern Districts Cricket, the NZCPA (New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association), ACA (Australian Cricketers’ Association) and Hamilton City Council.
 
“With this being the first season that no Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series has been played between Australia and the BLACKCAPS, we think it fills a gap in sorting out Trans-Tasman bragging rights,” noted David Cooper.
 
“The Samsung Masters NZCPA XI won the inaugural 2009 match in Wellington, so New Zealand can already claim defending titleholder status - and the Australians will be out to fix that. We’re expecting a bumper crowd to come along and support the New Zealand cause.”
 
NZCPA spokesperson Glen Sulzberger said that besides featuring international legends of recent years, the match may also feature some current cricket stars not involved in the World Cup.
 
“The exciting thing for us is that we’re bringing a truly international game to Hamilton,” Sulzberger said. “The concept has been very successful because while there’s festival, exhibition-style flavour to these events, it’s clear the players haven’t lost a single drop of the Trans-Tasman rivalry that runs through their veins. We’re expecting another highly competitive match.”
 
The event doubles as the showpiece of the NZCPA’s national 2011 Samsung Masters Series, which begins in late January and, other than the Titans International event in Hamilton, takes competitive matches between Kiwi cricket legends to regions that don’t otherwise host top-level cricket matches.
 
Tickets for the Titans International Twenty20 go on sale in early February via Ticketek; with Titans news and updates on Northern Districts Cricket's official website www.howcricketchangedmylife.com