Cricket: Tongue-tied NZC riles sponsor

The boss of a company which sponsors Black Cap Kyle Mills is disappointed at the poor communication from New Zealand Cricket on Zimbabwe tour issue.

Phoenix Recruitment managing director Jenny Durno said her company had considered withdrawing sponsorship from Mills if he went to Zimbabwe, and doubling it if he remained in New Zealand.

But after looking further into the issue, her "grumpiness" shifted from the fact the team was going on the tour to the lack of information that had been provided to enable people to make an informed decision.

She had combed newspapers for information and all she had seen reported from New Zealand Cricket was "all about these peoples' careers and money and all sort of small stuff, compared to peoples' lives".

But then she was informed about such things as China's record on human rights, where the New Zealand basketball team was on tour, and had been decided there was a lack of consistency, Durno said.

"It's all to do with politics and opportunism, which means that from the cricketers' point of view it's out of proportion and they've been unfairly sucked into it."

She also considered the Government had shown a lack of leadership

While continuing to sponsor Mills, Phoenix had also made a donation to Amnesty International, for the equivalent of Mills' sponsorship for the duration of the tour.

She would not say how much money was involved but the company was small "so it's a principle thing".

- NZPA