Australian practitioners have lifted the first Lawyers World Cup to be held in New Zealand, after beating Sri Lanka in the final in Hamilton earlier this month.

A total of 14 teams competed from Australia, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England, West Indies and New Zealand; some of whom were able to bring two teams.

In the final, Australia defeated Sri Lanka by nine wickets at Seddon Park. Sri Lanka scored 219 batting first.

Sri Lanka had beaten India in their semi-final, while Australia had overcome Pakistan in their play-off.

The second teams competed in a plate competition along with a combined Commonwealth team, which was won by Pakistan.

“The tournament required a large amount of work to organise,” says New Zealand captain Scott Donaldson.

“A lot of the work in Hamilton was done by local lawyer Roddie Sim. And a large part of the funding for the tournament came from the Australian Lawyers’ Cricket Association who are keen to support the New Zealand Lawyers’ Cricket Association.  The Australian Lawyers’ also provided significant organisational resources – in particular from Ron Heindrich, Karl Prince and Dan Maroske.

“It was a massive commitment for the players from countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to come to New Zealand for the tournament. That commitment reflects their passion for cricket.”

New Zealand, which relied entirely mostly on players from outside the main centres, won one of their six games.

“The motto of the Lawyers Cricket World Cup is ‘Cricket for Friendship’.  That theme is well known by all the participants,” added Donaldson, a Senior Associate at AWS Legal in Queenstown.

In conjunction with the tournament, a conference was held on Sports Law at the University of Waikato, with the keynote speaker Sir John Hansen, the once manager of the Hong Kong cricket team, and former Judge of the High Court.  A New Year’s Eve party was also held for everyone involved.

The next tournament is to be held in Trinidad in August 2021.

Above" the New Zealand team with Bangladesh's cricketing lawyers; and top photo with Pakistan players.