The cross-code game will be held at St Leonards Park on February 5, with the first ball bowled at 3pm.
All Blacks head coach and Sumner identity Scott Robertson will lead the celebrity line-up, which includes Canterbury icon Robbie Deans, Magicians pace bowler Gabby Sullivan and former Black Fern Helen Mahon-Stroud.
Former White Fern Lesley Murdoch will MC the event.
“It's a great way to celebrate our community as well as have a bit of fun and raise some cash,” said campaign lead Amy Carter.
Carter said more athletes would be announced as the game draws nearer.
In November 2024, the Waihoro-Spreydon-Cashmere-Heathcote Community Board approved Sumner Sports Pavilion Inc’s application to renew its lease at St Leonards Park and to remove the existing pavilion to make way for a new one.
Since then, a project team has been working towards launching the campaign, progressing the design process and securing resource consent, which was granted in August.
The demolition of the current pavilion and construction of a new one is estimated to cost about $3 million.
Carter said the group had already invested about $500,000 into the project and was pursuing grants, crowdfunding and events as fundraising opportunities.
Demolition work would ideally start right after the 2026 rugby season, she said, but would depend on fundraising progress.
Carter said upgrading the pavilion, home to Sumner rugby and cricket clubs, was long overdue and had been needed since before the earthquakes.
“It’s just no longer fit for purpose and it’s far from meeting seismic strengthening requirements as well,” she said.
The new pavilion will include changing rooms for women, match officials and people with disabilities, and a commercial kitchen.
The building’s conceptual design has been completed, with work now under way on detailed plans ahead of a building consent application.
Project contractor Jim the Builder has agreed to take an open-book approach, allowing services and materials from the community to be used to keep costs down.
The new pavilion is intended to be a multi-use facility, with space for local sports clubs and community groups that do not have a permanent home.
“We want the facility to be utilised as much as possible,” Carter said.
