CRICKET - Chats and co. draw the crowd

Ewen Chatfield may have been hammered for a couple of sixes by Jamie Lee - one of them sending an unfortunate spectator to hospital - but he came back to claim Lee's wicket with some of the guile that made him one of New Zealand's best-ever one-day bowlers.
Seeing Chatfield in action again, albeit 20 years past his prime, was one of several highlights of a great day at the Allens Charity Cricket Twenty20 match on Saturday at Cobham Oval.
The New Zealand Masters team, packed with former first class players and internationals, subdued the challenge of the Northland Masters team, finally winning the match by nine runs.
New Zealand batted first with Mark Bailey (50) and Shane Thompson (30) scoring the majority of the side's 141 runs with some explosive batting that thrilled the 800-plus crowd.
Northland got off to a flying start in their chase courtesy of Jamie Lee's big hitting and when he was dismissed for 41, Barry Cooper (38) and Andrew Jones continued the side's momentum.
But both were dismissed when the match hung in the balance in the final overs, allowing the New Zealand Masters team to claim a good victory.
Former New Zealand test opener Bryan Young, who now lives in Auckland, said it was great to see so many big names of cricket coming together in a "fantastic" setting.
"This is one of the premier grounds in New Zealand.
"As a first class venue this is undoubtedly in the top three or four venues in the country and that needs to be accentuated so all Northlanders realise it," he said.
He said the possibility of an international fixture here in the future was not out of the question if everyone got in behind the idea.
Young praised the game's organisation in the province for its creativity in trying to stimulate the game by organising professionals to coach youngsters in the clubs and in the schools.
"Cricket needs rejuvenating, it's a little like rugby and the pain they're going through at the grassroots level, things have changed in the provinces," he said.
"I think everybody realises that club cricket around the country is not at the same standard as it was and a lot of hard work needs to be done to get it back there - you build the base and then you get the cream at the top," Young said.
The cricket match and following charity auction raised over $180,000 and Allens director John Monteith said after costs were deducted they were looking at presenting somewhere around $120,000 to North Haven Hospice.
"We were really pleased with the number of people who turned up to watch the cricket and who then stayed for the auction," he said.
"The cricketers were rapt with the opportunity to help out the hospice and I was talking to Ewen Chatfield after the match and he asked me when the next one was.
"My response - and it might have been fatigue talking - was that he would be waiting a while."
Kerry Walmsley, of the New Zealand Cricket Players Association, which organised the NZ Masters team, said the organisation was keen on making this concept more of a regular event.
"We've got three games lined up already this year and we want to try and give the smaller associations a chance to get some good cricketers and some good cricket to publicise the game a bit more and act as a way to raise funds for charity," he said.
"It's great to have Ewen Chatfield along today and to get guys like Shane Thompson back in the mix.
"I think guys need breathing space from the game but in time they reach a certain point when they're ready to get back involved and it's great for us to give them a vehicle like this (to do it)."