New Zealand cricket-playing lawyers will be out for revenge when a team plays their Australian counterparts in a two-day series in the new year as a team is assembled for the New Zealand-hosted Lawyers’ World Cup.

The trans-Tasman “test” will take place on 7 and 8 January 2019 in Hamilton for the Holroyd Cup, won in 2017 by Australia.

It will provide some crucial practice ahead of the Lawyers’ World Cup, which will also be held in Hamilton over the new year 2019-2020.

Organiser Scott Donaldson, a lawyer at AWS Legal in Queenstown, says 10-12 teams are expected to compete in two divisions with New Zealand looking to field teams in both divisions.

“The defending champions are Australia who have been very supportive of our efforts to host. The events of the last World Cup in Sri Lanka were highly controversial with both the semi-final winners being disqualified having played ineligible players.”

While Mr Donaldson says the standard required for the Australian games is “reasonable” the 35-over games are more aimed at building friendships between lawyers in the two countries with the promise of plenty of socialising.

Mr Donaldson, who is the captain of the Appleby Cricket Club in Invercargill, says they are still looking for players to join the team.

In the last encounter between the Kiwi and Aussie lawyers, the visitors won the first game in Queenstown on 27 January 2017 by 15 runs and followed it up with victory the next day in Cromwell albeit by a much smaller margin, with the result not decided until the final over. They lifted the inaugural Holroyd Cup.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Lawyers’ Cricket Association Inc has been established to operate the activities for New Zealand lawyers cricket.  It is looking for sponsors, players and volunteers who want to be involved in lawyers cricket.

If you want to play call Scott Donaldson on 022 623 0071 or email sidonaldson@gmail.com