New Zealand Cricket World Cup squad introduced in ‘best team announcement ever’

Toddlers and a grandmother took part in the unusual announcement of the squad for the Cricket World Cup.

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson (PA) (PA Archive)

The announcement of New Zealand’s 15-member squad for this year’s Cricket World Cup by their “number one fans” has been referred to as the “best thing on the internet today”.

Family members, including children, took turns announcing the names of the Blackcap players selected for the International Cricket Council (ICC) tournament in a video lasting one minute and 38 seconds.

Around two million people have viewed the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, which was accompanied by a caption which read: “Our 2023 @cricketworldcup squad introduced by their number 1 fans!”

Each selected player’s family members first read out their cap number – a player’s appearances in a cricket game at international and domestic level – how they know them and then the player’s name.

The first family to announce one of the squad’s names were the wife, daughter and son of the team’s captain, Kane Williamson.

Williamson’s wife is seen in the video saying: “161, my daddy, Kane Williamson,” with the couple’s toddler repeating after her.

The fiancee, girlfriend, grandmother, mother, toddlers and wives of the other team members read out the names of the Kiwi players chosen to take part in the one day international (ODI) Cricket World Cup in the same way.

Tom Latham’s son made an appearance in the video and appears to want to follow in his father’s footsteps, as a bat could be seen next to the youngster.

With just over three weeks to go before the 2023 ICC tournament kicks off, the Blackcaps’ novel approach to announcing their squad had some fans impressed by the creativity involved.

One user wrote: “The nicest team coming up with the nicest and cutest WC announcement video. How lovely is this,” while another wrote: “This is the best thing on the internet today.”

One user posted that a comment from James Neesham’s grandmother left them in “tears”.

They said: “The grandma brought instant tears tbh how proud she was of her grandson! Amazing job media team!”

Another person referred to the video as the “best team announcement ever”.

Ten teams will participate in the ICC tournament, including the current Cricket World Cup champions England, who will begin the defence of their title on October 5 in the opening match with a clash against their 2019 finalist rivals New Zealand.

The ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 is scheduled to take place in India from October 5 to November 19.