Hosted by Kelly Sports and endorsed by Cricket Wellington, the Porirua Schools Smash It Cricket Competition is a new initiative aimed at promoting cricket to primary school children in the Porirua Basin area.
The aim is to introduce the game to historically non-cricket communities whose exposure to cricket is otherwise limited and to also provide an alternative to the more traditional sports played in these areas such as rugby, league and softball.
The inaugural after-school Smash It Cricket competition is being run for six weeks in November and December 2009 at Cannons Creek Park, with 12 mixed boys and girls Years 5 and 6 teams taking part.
Eight schools in the local area are involved in the tournament that culminates in a final. These schools are: Rangikura School (three teams), Cannons Creek School (two), Corina School, Windley School, Glen View School, Holy Family School, Tairangi School, Titahi Bay School, Russell School.
Games are played with eight players per side and eight overs per innings with batters batting in pairs for two overs each.
There are also ‘max’ hitting zones where batsman can score double runs for their shots.
Each game is umpired by a Cricket Wellington Development Officer.
Additional competitions are being run following each match, such as best catcher and
biggest hitting contests.
A Player of the Match is nominated after every game who each receive a trophy.
