NEW ZEALAND CRICKET LEGEND SIR RICHARD HADLEE GOES INTO BAT WITH GIANT INFLATABLE CRICKET BALL ON ICONIC LORD’S PITCH

A giant inflatable cricket ball that has been bouncing around New Zealand’s seven ICC Cricket World Cup host cities and other tourist hotspots made its first appearance in the UK this week, as former New Zealand all-rounder and cricket legend Sir Richard Hadlee padded up at Lord’s.

Following the success of the Rugby World Cup in 2011, New Zealand and Australia are readying themselves to welcome teams and fans to one of the most eagerly anticipated sporting events on the planet, with over a million visitors expected and over a billion global fans expected to watch on television.

The opening match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be held in Christchurch on 14th February 2015. It is just over six months before England plays the first of three pool matches in New Zealand - against New Zealand in Wellington on 20th February.

Born and bred in Christchurch, Sir Richard Hadlee is one of New Zealand’s best known and most successful sportspeople. He was the first bowler in the history of test cricket to take more than 400 test wickets and holds a prestigious place in the ICC Hall of Fame and on the Honours Board at Lord’s, one of his favourite grounds. He represented Nottinghamshire between 1978 and 1987 and had a remarkable era. In the 1984 county season Sir Richard completed a rare county ‘double’ – scoring a thousand runs and taking a hundred wickets during the same season. Sir Richard is also New Zealand Ambassador for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and Christchurch International Airport.

As joint hosts with Australia, New Zealand will host 23 games of the tournament across seven cities. In the pool stages England fans will have the chance to visit New Zealand’s ‘coolest little capital’ Wellington to take on New Zealand on 20th February, before basing themselves in the Christchurch region where England play Scotland on 23rd February and Sri Lanka on 1st March. Scottish fans will head further south to Dunedin - the Gaelic name for Edinburgh - for their opening match against New Zealand on 17th February and Afganistan on 26th February, before heading to Nelson to take on Bangladesh on 5th March.

The tournament will be the first in an exciting line up of international sporting events in New Zealand over the next few years. The FIFA U20 World Cup is being held from 30 May – 20 June 2015 followed by the World Masters Games in April 2017 and British & Irish Lions Tour also in 2017.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 tickets are available to buy online from just $20 per adult for pool matches at www.cricketworldcup.com

UK specialist operators selling ICC Cricket World Cup packages are Howzat; Sports Tours Plus; The Sporting Traveller; Thomas Cook Sport; Gullivers Sports Travel; Thomson Sport and Glory Days. In Ireland Abbey Travel is the ICC Cricket World Cup appointed agent.