Tuesday. February 22, 2011. Like most New Zealanders, it’s a date that Frankie Mackay, a Canterbury SUV and member of the White Ferns team, would soon soon forget. It was a day when a large 6.3 earthquake on the Richter scale had set off shock waves on the South Island, hitting the heart of Christchurch in the Canterbury region, New Zealand’s second most populous city, causing a widespread devastation and claiming up to 185 lives.
Ironically, the day had started on a hopeful note for Mackay, then 21, who was informed that he would be making his debut against Australia in the upcoming ODI series. Shortly before 1 pm, the team met at their hotel in Plaza de la Catedral for a practice session. She had just walked down the hotel lobby to the door when the ground below her began to shake vigorously. Mackay, alarmed, wrapped herself around a pillar in the hall. His teammates on the outside had lost their sense of physical perspective when a large part of Christchurch’s magnificent cathedral tower collapsed. When the shaking stopped, none of the team members were injured, but they were covered in dust from the debris. They cautiously gathered outside the hotel premises, where some preferred to sit as it made them feel much more secure. Mackay added: “There was a White Ferns team huddled into little balls in the middle of the square.”
A teammate began removing the debris to see if anyone was trapped underneath. Mackay recalled seeing fire roaring from the adjacent press building, home of the Christchurch morning newspaper, which had collapsed. When he saw people come out with blood on their faces, the enormity of the situation subsided. It wasn’t just the beloved Cathedral. “You think, ‘We’re in a world of trouble here.’
Mackay would go on to assert herself as an all-rounder with the prowess of big shots and leisurely bowling. From 2011-2014, she was a regular in the New Zealand women’s T20 and ODI teams, during which time she traveled to the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and the 2013 One-Day World Cup in India. A subsequent loss of form relegated her to the background. After a five-year hiatus, she returned for the T20 series at home against India after being named Burger King Super Smash Player of the Year at that season’s annual New Zealand cricket awards.
Frankie Mackay.
A decade after that horrible natural calamity, Trevor Auger, a former cricketer for a club based in Auckland, had published a book entitled “The Warm Sun on My Face: The History of Women’s Cricket in New Zealand”, which among other things, he vividly narrated the events of that cool February afternoon in midsummer. Interestingly, Auger hadn’t planned to include this section in his book before meeting Mackay in 2018. “My conversation with Mackay touched me deeply. She was the catalyst, and it is her account that I chose to write in detail in this book, ”Auger told The Indian Express by phone.
The 676-page pager, which was in development for more than four years, documents women’s cricket in New Zealand from the late 19th century to the current legends of the White Ferns team.
Auger was not in Christchurch or anywhere else on the South Island when the tragedy occurred. However, he offered several anecdotal evidence of the chaos and deep scars that the chain of events had left on people’s minds. “When the earthquake struck, I was working for Ford Motor Company in Auckland. But several colleagues at the Ford dealership in Christchurch reported how the front of a nearby building collapsed onto a bus and crushed several people, ”he explained.
In addition to the loss of many innocent lives, the earthquake, Auger said, was also responsible for razing old Lancaster Park and partially devastating Christchurch Cathedral, two monumental monuments in the city. “Lancaster Park was an integral part of the city’s sporting ecosystem, and the site regularly hosted international cricket and rugby matches. The earthquake had caused irreparable damage. It was only after this incident that the Hagley Oval was restored and put on the cricket map. It hosted Sri Lanka in 2015, and after the World Cup that year, ”said Auger, who had worked as a press scorer at Auckland’s Eden Park.
‘The heart of the city is broken’
For the past 10 years, Christchurch Cathedral, an imposing neo-Gothic structure, built by popular English architect Sir Gilbert Scott, has stood amid rubble and rubble, its tower devastated. Peter Beck, the dean of the cathedral, had told the BBC: “The heart of the city is broken.”
“It was built by immigrants from England when they came to New Zealand in the 19th century. For a long time, this structure has been the identity of this city. Just as New York has the Empire State Building, Christchurch is known by its namesake: Christchurch Cathedral, ”Auger noted. “I’m not sure when the restoration work will begin. There is a lot of debate about who will pay for it. “
Even after all these years, there are many New Zealanders who are still dealing with the aftermath. “Even now, when there is a slight shaking, my sister and my nephew worry a lot,” Auger said.
Trevor Auger, a former cricketer for the Auckland-based club.
Former White Ferns cricketer Elizabeth Perry was one of many people left physically and emotionally drained by the events of February 22, 2011. Perry represented White Ferns internationally for seven years, from 2010 to 2017 , like a competent all-rounder for bowling. Aside from his stints in cricket, he also represented New Zealand internationally in hockey. In April 2019, Perry married New Zealand cricketer Maddy Green.
At the time, she was also simultaneously pursuing her master’s thesis on: ‘The Traveling Athlete: Cricket, Migration and Globalization’. The subject of their study involved experiences of female athletes from New Zealand and Australia who temporarily migrated to play cricket in England. It located the women’s cricket migration network within the modern world sports space and challenged the general perception of what the typical world athlete is like today. At one point, she considered giving up her research and cricket as well, before family and friends helped her during that period.
“This thesis has been a continual reminder of that day for me because of its connections to cricket, but I strongly believe that had it not been for this research, I may not have continued my cricket career,” Auger quoted in his book. .
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.