Full credit to cricket for reconnecting with true-blue fans

OPINION: A few years back I feared for the sport of cricket in this country, writes Logan Savory in this week's Sav's Say.

As usual the Black Caps were battling on the world stage but, even worse, the interest in domestic cricket had hit an all-time low. The lure for youngsters to want to one day reach that level surely must have waned.

Where was the excitement for those kids to aspire to pull on the colours of the Otago Volts or Central Districts?

Credit, however, must be dished out where credit is due, as I now feel some of those fears have eased in cricket – for the time being at least.

New Zealand Cricket boss Justin Vaughan and his follow decision-makers at the NZC headquarters have breathed life back into domestic cricket this year by bringing their premier players back to the roots of the sport.

In previous years New Zealand's international players took very little part in domestic cricket and because of this it struggled to grab any real attention among everyday sporting fans.

The push though to have a gap in the Black Caps' playing calendar this month has allowed the players to take part in the entire 2010 HRV Cup twenty20 tournament.

What comes with this is that the country's true-blue sporting fans in the smaller provincial areas have got the chance to watch world-class cricketers go about their business on their own doorstep.

On Tuesday night the Otago Volts and Northern Knights visited Invercargill for an HRV Cup game.

With 12 past or present international players on display, the kids of Southland got the rare opportunity to mingle with the likes of Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori.

This sort of connection between the fans and the players was hat cricket desperately needed in the smaller regions such as Southland.

It also bucks the trend a little.

As New Zealand's elite premier rugby players become more distanced from their provinces as time goes on cricket, in a small way, is trying to get back to its roots to increase interest in its sport.

Getting the opportunity to see the likes of Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter play in Invercargill is becoming less and less likely as the years go by, but seeing McCullum and Vettori on Tuesday night became a reality, thanks to cricket officials.

Cricket's approach this year is refreshing but the boom in interest in the domestic game can't be a fly-by-night one.

NZC officials must sustain their push by doing whatever they have to to get their premier players involved on a similar basis in future seasons.

» Logan Savory is a former Southland cricket representative who was named New Zealand junior sportswriter of the year at the 2007 TP McLean journalism awards. His main rounds are cricket and rugby.

- © Fairfax NZ News