New Zealand Cricket to review crowd catch promotion after outcry

Former internationals have voiced their concerns about the safety of families with young children

New Zealand Cricket have confirmed they will review their Catch-A-Million promotion after prominent former Black Caps voiced concerns over the safety of families and young children in the crowds at recent IT20 matches.

Jimmy Neesham and Kyle Mills have both spoken out against the competition, in which members of the audience are encouraged to take one-handed catches in the galleries in the hope of winning $50,000.

The sight of grown men throwing themselves through the air and into groups of unsuspecting onlookers has become relatively common during the recent series against New Zealand, leading Neesham and Mills to have their say.

Neesham wrote on Twitter: "Tonight for your viewing pleasure: Grown men in orange t-shirts cannonballing into families with small children.

"Potentially there should be designated areas for the t shirts. Someone will get badly hurt and it will look like the dumbest thing ever in hindsight."

Meanwhile, Mills told Trackside Radio: "Somebody is going to get hit and hurt really bad.

"The game of cricket has changed immensely even when I stopped playing four years ago. Eden Parker Outer Oval, for example, is a really small ground, small boundary and when you play a game of T20 cricket, the sixes go flying into the crowd like a bullet.

"With the guys with the catching competition, I can see from their point of view. There are 50K up for grabs but somebody is going to get hurt (at) some stage to what extent?"

Any injuries sustained by participants is not the responsibility of the organisers, as expressed in the terms and conditions of the competition.

A young girl was left in tears following a collision with a man in one of the orange shirts on Wednesday night while, in a separate incident, local media reported a fight looked like breaking out as players scrambled for a catch.

Following the outcry, New Zealand Cricket released a statement regarding the promotion, in conjunction with promoters Tui.

It read: "Tui in conjunction with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) would like to reiterate that crowd safety in the Tui Catch a Million promotion is paramount.

"We are now working through the logistics of these, and as soon as there are more details we will share them with you."

New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson said: "I don't think anyone likes some of the scenes we saw last night.

"Obviously, safety of players and spectators alike is paramount. It's certainly something they're going to be looking at." 

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