Parliamentarians to meet TelstraClear Black Caps in inaugural trophy match

Stephen Fleming is to captain a New Zealand Cricket invitational side to play the Parliamentary cricket team in a 15-over cricket match at Wellington College on Sunday.

This is the inaugural match in what is hoped will become an annual encounter between the country's top political players and its top cricketers as they play for the Parliamentary Cup.

The NZC side will feature current TelstraClear Black Caps, White Fern Maia Lewis and former international, NZC chief executive Martin Snedden.

Several club and school players from Wellington will also be in the NZC team giving some young cricketing talent the opportunity to play alongside their sporting heroes.

The parliamentary team will include Paul Swain, John Tamihere and John Carter.

The Speaker of the House the Rt Hon Jonathan Hunt will require all his adjudication skills in his capacity as match umpire.

The inaugural game is being played to launch the New Zealand Community Trust's sponsorship of the NZC secondary schools and club development programme.

The secondary school and club development programme is stage two of a full national programme that was launched four years ago with an initial focus on recruiting and upskilling primary school cricketers. The second stage of the programme focuses on the development of secondary school and club cricket and the retention of young cricketers as they make the transition into clubs.

The match begins at 1pm at the top ground at Wellington College.