SKYCITY Northern Knights team up with True Colours for day of fun

Seriously ill children and their families enjoyed the welcome distraction of cricket during a fun-filled morning with members from Northern Districts Cricket teams on Saturday 19th March.

Northern Districts Cricket and the True Colours Children's Health Trust, a charity organisation which supports seriously ill children and their family members with counselling, nursing care and education, teamed up to hold the event at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

The day included training with the SKYCITY Northern Knights team members, face painting, bouncy castles and a barbeque.

True Colours CEO Cynthia Ward said the event, was a fantastic day for all involved and a great opportunity for families in similar circumstances to network with each other.

"Days like this, give the children and their parents a chance to escape from their reality and provide some fun and "lightness" to their life, and it also allows them to meet other families in similar circumstances and we have seen some lovely connections being made."

"When there is tough stuff happening for a family regarding a child's health condition, it is awesome to have Northern District Cricket acknowledge this and in a very practical way, connect directly with families."

*True Colours Children's Health Trust is a Waikato-based child health care organisation, funded entirely by community generosity. It exists for the sole purpose of supporting children and young people with complex serious illness, and their families. http://truecolours.org.nz/

NORTHERN DISTRICTS PLAYERS DOMINATE BLACKCAPS CONTRACT ALLOCATION  

New Zealand Cricket announced the BLACKCAPS contract list today with a third of the available contracts provided to Northern Districts players.   Ish Sodhi, who was last offered a full-year contract in the 2014-15 season, joins his Northern Districts team-mates Corey Anderson, Trent Boult,  Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, BJ Watling and Kane Williamson on the national list. 

Peter Roach, CEO for Northern Districts Cricket, is pleased with the association's representation  "It is terrific that our region presently contributes such a large number of high profile and highly talented players to the BLACKCAPS environment.  The young male and female players in our region get a great thrill knowing that they are playing in the same programmes, clubs and environments that have produced home grown champions such as the national captain Kane Williamson."

"Having 7 BLACKCAPS from the ND camp is something that we are proud of and is a reflection of the strong status of cricket in our District Associations.  We are especially pleased to see Ish back on the list after his hard work in recent seasons."

The 21 players offered BLACKCAPS contracts for the 2016-2017 year are listed below.

Northern Districts:

Corey Anderson - Bay of Plenty

Trent Boult - Bay of Plenty

Mitchell Santner - Hamilton

Ish Sodhi - Counties Manukau

Tim Southee - Northland

BJ Watling - Hamilton

Kane Williamson - Bay of Plenty

Remaining BLACKCAPS Contracts: 

Doug Bracewell - Central Districts 

Mark Craig - Otago

Martin Guptill - Auckland

Matt Henry - Canterbury

Tom Latham - Canterbury

Mitchell McClenaghan - Auckland

Adam Milne - Central Districts  

Colin Munro - Auckland

James Neesham - Otago

Henry Nicholls - Canterbury

Luke Ronchi - Wellington

Ross Taylor - Central Districts 

Neil Wagner - Otago

George Worker - Central Districts