PA/06/15 13 February, 2015
Australia and New Zealand High Commissions host 'Mini Cricket World Cup' in India
The Australian and New Zealand High Commissions celebrated the beginning of cricket’s ultimate competition by holding a “Mini Cricket World Cup” in New Delhi on Friday.
After many months of anticipation, the first games of the 2015 Cricket World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, will begin tomorrow.
Fourteen teams will compete at fourteen different stadiums dotted across both countries as India fights to retain the trophy it famously won at home in 2011.
The Cup hosted here in New Delhi was on a more modest scale, with six teams of children drawn from the NGOs Magic Bus, Chintan and the Aga Khan Foundation competing for top honours.
But all the teams threw themselves into the competition with the same intensity which will characterise the contest for the most prized title in international cricket.
The winning team was awarded the Mini Cricket World Cup by Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Mr Patrick Suckling, and New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India, Mr Grahame Morton.
“Cricket is deep in the DNA of Australia, New Zealand and India, and our shared love for the game binds all three nations closely together,” Mr Suckling said.
“We are proud and excited to be co-hosting the World Cup with New Zealand. In January alone we received more than 12 thousand tourist visa applications from Indian fans who will travel to Australia to watch the action. The Cricket World Cup will help to cement the close bonds of friendship between our two countries.”
“On the eve of the ICC World Cup 2015 we are delighted to have had the chance to share today some of the excitement that the tournament is bringing to New Zealand and Australia with the children of Delhi,” said New Zealand’s High Commissioner, Mr Grahame Morton.
“Whether we have had a star of the tournament of 2031 with us today or not, it is clear that these children and fans around the globe are tuned in and ready for the cricket to begin. We have every confidence that the Australia-New Zealand World Cup of 2015 will be one of the very best. The many visitors from India and other participating countries to New Zealand and Australia over the next six weeks are in for a great experience,” Mr Morton said.