TV broadcast to use Maori word during Test

New Zealand Cricket will unveil a new graphic come Thursday’s first Test against Australia at Basin Reserve in Wellington.

The graphic will have the word ‘wicket’, but all be the Maori translation ‘wikiti’ alongside it.

It’s a change that comes as part of New Zealand Cricket’s partnership with TVNZ, as the cricketing and broadcast leaders team up to ensure their country’s history is recognised next to the English language.

Across cricket, New Zealand broadcasters take pride in utilising inclusive language from both the Maori and English language.

TVNZ have also been using whā and ono for four and six respectively in their broadcasts recently.

Words such as bat, known as ‘patu’, or ‘poro’, meaning ball, are used across New Zealand’s cricketing terminology, as part of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The word for wicket in the Maori language ‘wikiti’, will be used across Basin Reserve in Wellington.

The treaty is an agreement between British Crown and Maori history that acknowledges the Maori peoples as land owners, giving them the same rights as British citizens.

Meantime, Australia has confirmed they will take an unchanged Test team into the first match against New Zealand on Thursday.

The Black Caps would not confirm their XI at the press conference on Wednesday, but opening batter Devon Conway has been ruled out with a thumb injury.

Tim Southee addresses the media beore the first test.

The first Test gets underway at 9am (AEDT) in Wellington on Thursday.

Australia XI vs New Zealand: Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.