Former Black Cap Hamish Rutherford dropped into Broad Bay School on Monday for a morning of skills and drills.
Junior teacher (kaiako) Daniel Ashton said having a talented athlete in the local area was a chance too good to miss.
"We thought that seeing we have got Hamish as a person in our community, it would be great to come and kick it off."
Rutherford, who played 16 tests for New Zealand, now works as a project manager on the new Dunedin hospital build but was happy to step out of the office.
"It is a good small little school where my daughter goes and then the rest of my family will go as well," he said.
He viewed it as a way to give back to the community.
The session involved friendly exercises such as fielding drills aimed at the stumps and practising throws before a quick game of non-stop cricket.
The whole school from years 1 to 8 participated in the event.
Vera Wainwright, 10, said cricket was a good team sport.
She liked playing with her friends and relished bowling.
Kingston Geddes, 13, said he loved the sport, recalling times playing with his father in Australia.
Tobin Laurence, 8, said the day had been entertaining and he preferred batting.
"I do some backyard cricket sometimes with my dad."
Jonah Michael, 12, said he had not tried cricket before but the day had been "pretty fun".
He liked fielding and also had a good time batting.
Rutherford hoped the session would help pass on knowledge to schools that might not always get opportunities to play cricket.
"It is good to be able to do something.
"Hopefully they had a bit of fun," he said.
The veteran left-handed batter retired in January 2024 having accumulated more than 16,000 runs across all formats for New Zealand and Otago as well as representing several United Kingdom counties.
