Photo Credit: New Zealand Cricket
For former New Zealand representatives Maia Lewis and Peter McGlashan, Sunday’s historic bilingual commentary of the T20 between the BLACKCAPS and Sri Lanka at Eden Park represents both a celebration of te reo Māori and an opportunity to embrace their whakapapa.
Lewis (Ngāti Whātua and Ngāti Maniapoto) and McGlashan (Ngāti Porou) along with former WHITE FERNS wicket-keeper Rebecca Rolls (Ngāti Porou), will join Māori language academic, writer, and broadcaster Scotty Morrison (Ngāti Whakaue), and sports broadcaster Te Aorere Pewhairangi (Ngāti Porou), in delivering Aotearoa New Zealand’s first international cricket commentary broadcast in both English and te reo Māori.
The commentary will be carried live on Spark Sport, TVNZ 1, and TVNZ + and will be able to be accessed by selecting the alternative language option on each of the platforms.
Lewis said she was looking forward to the challenge of describing the match in te reo Māori and further opening up the game for her people.
“It’s great for Māori as Tangata Whenua and I also think it helps in terms of attracting Pasifika to the game – simply by showing a commitment to be inclusive and welcoming,” she said.
“I think the goodwill is important. It’s a huge step in the right direction.”
The former WHITE FERNS captain said that, like so many others, she had to learn te reo Māori as a second language and was loving the voyage of discovery that followed.
“That played a big part in coming back to my roots. I’m looking forward to sharing that on commentary and telling the story of the game in my own language.”
A video on Lewis’ te reo Māori journey will be played during the innings break.
McGlashan said the commentary option was significant in terms of showcasing te reo Māori, and helping it thrive in mainstream Aotearoa New Zealand.
“My grandma grew up in a time when Māori were prohibited from speaking their language – it was beaten out of us. So this is something very special to me.
“Te reo Māori is about so much more than just words. It’s the story of a culture that you can’t articulate accurately in any other language. It’s important we keep using it.”
He said the commentary initiative would hopefully help bring more Māori to the game and, with that, produce more role models in and around it.
“It’s just like the language,” he said. “You can’t speak what you can’t hear. And you can’t be what you can’t see.”
Sunday’s T20I coverage will also feature a story on the history of Eden Park, as told by Ngāti Whātua, to be played during the build-up to the start of the game.
Name of Author: New Zealand Cricket
The New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, made their Test debut in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth nation to play Test cricket. After waiting 26 years for their first Test win against the West Indies in 1956, they also played their first ODI in 1972–73 against Pakistan. New Zealand are the inaugural World Test Championship champions (2021) and have won the ICC Champions Trophy (2000). They have reached the Cricket World Cup final twice and the T20 World Cup final once.
