Southland cricketers go in to bat for cyclone victims

A cricket fundraising event in Queenstown last month raised almost $27,000 which is to be donated to sports organisations affected by Cyclone Gabrielle in Tairāwhiti and the East Coast.

The event, called Bat for the Bay,  was organised by a Queenstown social cricket team known as Southland Development Squad (SDS).

SDS contacted The Sunrise Foundation in Gisborne and asked it to identify where the highest need was and to distribute the money to sports clubs and organisations which needed to replace or repair equipment.

Sunrise executive officer Glenda Stokes said the team would determine that in the coming weeks.

“Distributing pass-through funds is not our core business but in times like these it’s important for everyone to help where they can.

“Since Gabrielle, we’ve worked with numerous organisations and individuals outside of Tairāwhiti who have asked for our support in where their donations may be most beneficial.”

The SDS are a mostly over-50s team who have formed a strong relationship on and off the pitch with the “slightly younger” Poverty Bay Wekas.

Two weeks ago, SDS travelled to Gisborne for an annual game against the Wekas and later in the year the Wekas will reciprocate in Queenstown to support SDS’s annual six-a-side tournament.

SDS spokesman Charlie Phillips said on seeing the terrible outcome of Cyclone Gabrielle the team had no hesitation in wanting to help their friends and other sporting organisations in Tairāwhiti get back on their feet.

Their fundraiser, held last month, consisted of 12 hours of cricket  — two 40-over games against Millbrook Cricket Club and Queenstown Cricket Club and an inter-squad twenty20 game.

“Surprisingly the bodies didn’t feel too bad at the end of it,” Charlie said.

“It was for such a good cause — we’d do it again in a heartbeat, although hopefully there won’t be the need for us to.”