New Zealand cricket team will celebrate Maori Language Week using “Aotearoa” instead of New Zealand during the tour of Africa. New Zealand will sport Aotearoa jersey for the first ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare on August 2. This unique move is taken to make cricket popular among the Maori tribe as Aotearoa is Maori tribal nickname of New Zealand; it will also take Maori to the international level.
“New Zealand Cricket want to extend cricket’s reach and make it more welcoming to communities not always closely aligned with the game,” NZC chief executive David White told cricinfo. “It’s something we haven’t done particularly well in the past. “We’ve been too one dimensional in our approach and especially in regard to addressing under-representation in certain communities. But we have to start somewhere,” White further asserted.
New Zealand would also soon be introducing a series of new cricket-plying programmes to make cricket popular among various communities other than white kiwis. “Cricket is a wonderful game that anyone can play, irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity or culture,” he said. “We just need to make sure everyone feels it’s accessible and welcoming – which is part of the reason for reaching out this week.”