Wellington's secondary school 1st XI cricketers and their coaches were treated to a special night out in Wellington tonight.

They were the guests of Cricket Wellington at a dinner to celebrate secondary school cricket, a first for the Capital and likely to be the forerunner of similar events in the future.

The evening was hosted by Wellington College, the home of the national boys' secondary school trophy, the Gillette Cup.

Teams from 12 district 1st XIs were mixed up at various tables at the dinner and at the head of each table was a former New Zealand cricketer. Among those in attendance were former players: Jeremy Coney, who was one of the guest speakers, Ian Smith, Martin Crowe, Roger Twose, Andrew Jones, Ewen Chatfield, Evan Gray, Robert Vance, Bruce Morrison, John Morrison, Mark Greatbatch, Richard Petrie, Gavin Larsen, Ken Rutherford, Bruce Murray, Trevor McMahon, Martin Snedden, Ervin McSweeney, Grahame Bilby and Jonathon Millmow.

The evening was organised by cricket historian and former national selector and president of New Zealand Cricket Don Neely.

It also allowed him to present each player with a coaching journal he has been working on for three or four years. The publication is a coaching manual with a difference, it recognises the place of left-handers in the game by demonstrating every aspect of the game that has been traditionally the preserve of right-handers, by providing a mirror image for left-handers.

The lack of coaching material for left-handers has long irked Neely and the journal, which will eventually be available to all schoolboy players in Wellington, and probably throughout the country if major associations cotton on to its worth.

Former New Zealand manager, All Black, principal of Auckland Grammar and now Chancellor of Auckland University John Graham was the first guest speaker on the subject of developing lives through participation in sport.

Graham used his time with the CLEAR Black Caps to round out his speech.

He said it was vital for players in any sport to have belief in themselves and belief in their team. Belief wouldn't necessarily guarantee winning but without belief or confidence you would not win in sport, or life.

Graham said when he first joined the New Zealand team he felt they had an attitude that they "hoped" to win.

One of the first things instilled in them was the belief that they could achieve anything when they walked in the company of those who believed in them.

"That attitude gives you belief to get through the golden days as well as the tough days," he said.

Whatever people were involved in in life, they had to have a dream, a goal.

When Gilbert Enoka was introduced into the side he developed the BTB formula - better than before. And that was something that could be applied to every aspect of the game, just as it could be in every aspect of life.

For example, a statistical study had shown that if a team could bowl 30% of its overs as maidens it would win a Test match, and if they bowled 25% they still had a chance to win.

"BTB became a very essential part of the team development. It stretched outside the team so they looked better, behaved better and dressed better," he said.

Another aspect of the team's development was the hard work ethic. Graham said that when he first toured Australia he watched how much effort the best Australian players put into their game.

New Zealand's players became required to write down what they were trying to achieve at the nets. They were given hours of fielding practice by coach Steve Rixon.

Discipline to both external needs and from within were demanded of players and there were some non-negotiable rules.

The development of sacrifice, such as the first occasion the players had to prepare for a Boxing Day Test in New Zealand, when the players had to give up celebrating in the normal Kiwi fashion because they had a Test starting the next day was a classic example of this. The reward had been a Test victory over India, spearheaded by the Boxing Day seven wicket bag to Simon Doull.

Loyalty was another aspect developed, to each other, to the game and to their supporters in New Zealand.

"New Zealand cricket supporters are the most loyal in the world because of the way they get bashed around every year. They are immensely loyal," Graham said.

The final ingredient in the mix was the competitive edge where nothing other than excellence should be acceptable to players.

"Respecting the laws and customs of the game is important. In sport it is called sportsmanship, in life it is called honesty, trustworthiness," he said.

And once those are all in place there was enjoyment.

"It is about enjoying the daily challenges of playing sport at the top level, and enjoying living," he said.

More than any other sporting tour he had been on, his cricket journey showed him that for personal development as a sportsman players had to work at it daily, he said.

Coney then spoke in his usual humorous manner about how cricket grabbed him like a virus that he has never been able to shake off.

He pointed out that many young players had graced New Zealand teams immediately after leaving school, the earliest versions being Giff Vivian in 1931 and Martin Donnelly in 1937 and the most recent being Daniel Vettori in 1997.

Coney also spoke about his weekly game of pulpit cricket on Sundays with a friend where the weekly sermon at their local church was the vehicle, depending upon however the minister gesticulated, for runs or dismissals. The visit by a Salvation Army speaker on the demons of drink had been enough to dismiss an entire international side so often was the finger of dismissal pointed at the congregation.

But Coney told the players: "It is easy to be mediocre, just be as good as you can be. Find out what you like and if it's cricket, grab it and go for it, it's a beaut game."

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