An exceptional sporting talent
ANZ cricketer selected to play in NZ

He’s only 15 years old but already Pastor Marsters Zekaria has been identified as an up and coming talent in Cook Islands cricket.
He has the distinction of becoming the first overseas player to be selected to play in the NZ Junior’s Secondary Tournament in the Northern Districts where he will turn out for the Poverty Bay Cricket Team in Whangarei.
The announcement was made by Cook Islands Cricket CEO Alister Stevic at a media briefing held at the ANZ on Friday morning. Also present were ANZ CEO David Dennis and CI Cricket’s Corey Patia.
Young Pastor Marsters Zekaria, who plays for the Titikaveka College team and the Titikaveka Titans club seniors, is a product of the ANZ Junior Cricket Programme which began 2 years ago in schools throughout the Cook Islands.
Pastor’s selection for the NZ tournament, comes as a result of Cook Islands Cricket extending its close partnership with Northern Districts Cricket. An agreement was recently signed off which will see the country’s top ANZ junior cricketers playing in major secondary schools tournaments in NZ.
Highlighting the importance of this opportunity, Cook Islands Cricket CEO Alister Stevic told the Times, “This is a significant step forward for the development of our players on the international stage, from my understanding there is no other opportunity like this afforded to any other Pacific Island nations.”
Alister thanked Pat Malcolm of Northern Districts for being such a passionate supporter of Cook Islands cricket. Alister also had high praise for ANZ CEO David Dennis and his staff.
Pastor only began playing cricket about two years ago and is excited about the opportunity to play in NZ. He thanked his club and coach Hori for supporting him and the ANZ for introducing cricket in schools. He hoped to lean a lot and become a professional cricketer one day.
Alister said Pastor was essentially a middle order batsman with the Titans senior team, batting around 5, 6 or 7. In the College team, he opened the batting. He was also developing into a handy off-spin bowler.
Alister said Pastor was an exceptional talent and a good role model.
ANZ has made a significant investment in through the ANZ junior cricket programme said Alister. That investment has borne fruit with Pastor’s success which is shared by ANZ, Pastor’s coaches, all the volunteers and all the school teachers involved in the programme.
A delighted ANZ CEO Dennis said, ”This is a great opportunity for our country’s top cricketers to continue to develop their skills. We are very proud of the ANZ junior cricket programme and are committed to making an ongoing contribution to the communities in which we operate. This programme is just one way that we are demonstrating our commitment.” -Charles Pitt

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