It is a six-a-side social game that will be all over in 75 minutes. It is aimed at anyone who just wants to have a bit of fun on a Wednesday night and not take the game too seriously.
It will get under way on February 12 and run for six weeks. It is a trial at this stage but Otago Cricket Association chief executive Mike Coggan hopes it will become a regular feature.
‘‘We are looking at innovative ways to appeal to people . . . rather than just simply traditional cricket,’’ Coggan said.
Similar tournaments have been run in Wanaka and Queenstown ‘‘for quite some time’’ and have been successful.
‘‘Our twilight cricket competition is still very traditional but Queenstown and Wanaka are offering cricket without pads, a soft ball, no boundaries and six-a-side.
‘‘It is going to be over in one and a-quarter hours and we are appealing to a market other than your traditional cricket players so we don’t impact on the Monday night twilight cricket, which has, I think, 30 teams.
‘‘It is so much easier for a group of friends to put together a team of six. And you don’t have to turn up with anything. We will supply the plastic stumps and trained umpires and scorers.
‘‘They basically run the game from the middle with an iPad. Everything will be done online in terms of registration and payments.
‘‘It is the equivalent of a pay to play.’’
There will be prizes on offer for all kinds of activities such as best social media post or best dressed.
‘‘We will also look at delivering pizzas to the team of the week. It is going to be a completely different look.
‘‘We already have some really good interest from sponsors who are keen to come on board and be part of this.’’
