Two young cricket fans had the surprise of their lives when they returned to their Auckland home after a night away to find their front yard had been turned into a cricket pitch and five Black Caps were ready to play with them.
Sandringham brothers Kazik, aged 8, and Lukasz Swain, 10, won the pitch and the opportunity to meet Brendon McCullum, Mitchell McClenaghan, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori and bowling coach Shane Bond in the ANZ Field Your Dream promotion.
Their father, Andrew Swain, said the boys did not know they had won and were staying in a hotel while a landscaping team worked to transform their home's yard into an 18m turfed pitch, with nets, cricket gear and a bowling machine.
The boys and their father worked on a brief application stating their "cricket dream".
"When I saw all the gear and the Black Caps standing in front of our house I was pretty speechless," said Lukasz, who plays for the Cornwall Park Cricket Club Year 5 team and his brother, Kazik, for the Year 3 team.
"It's awesome. I'll remember it for a really long time."
Mr Swain said he was impressed at how the Black Caps mixed with the 80 friends and family who came for the big reveal of the yard makeover.
"The Black Caps were fantastic with the kids for the drills and games session set up, and they passed on skills and really inspired them.
"It's a great pitch. You open the gate and the bowler can run from the neighbour's driveway to get a run-up.
"The kids have outgrown the pitch and nets I built for them and the windows are safe, so they're free to go."
He said his sons watched the Black Caps' games on television "obsessively" and ran out to the front yard for some hits during the commercial breaks.
"They picked up on cricket at an early age and I'd encourage any sport they want to play," he said.
The ANZ Field Your Dream promotion runs between now and the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
By Wayne Thompson of the New Zealand Herald
