The tournament has been a wonderful event for our city. The performance of the Black Caps so far, has made it all the sweeter, of course.
Christchurch has hosted three pool matches, and four warm up matches were held.
Attendance for pool matches was 18,000, 14,000 and 11,000 – three huge cricket crowds in Christchurch.
Volunteers' shifts covered Hagley Oval, Accreditation Centre, Fleet Centre, Fan Zone and other locations around the city.
This has been an incredible commitment - a great show of generosity of time and passion for your city.
Volunteers have provided extremely high level of service to the ICC, the Local Organising Committee, dignitaries, guests, sponsors, teams and match officials, and received praise from the highest officials at the ICC.
There has been overwhelmingly positive feedback from so many people about how fantastic the volunteers in Christchurch have been – welcoming, friendly and incredibly helpful.
I can attest to that personally from my expereince of attending the opening ceremony and the opening match walking along the fan trail and then leaving after the match was over. Good humour coupled with good advice really made getting to and from a delightful experience.
I'd like to make special mention of Nicole Dunn, the Cricket World Cup workforce co-ordinator, for all her work organising rosters and roles, and keeping things running smoothly.
Unfortunately she cannot be here tonight as she is in Auckland at the Cricket World Cup tournament.
I must also thank Erin Raines and Alison Somervell who delivered the Volunteer Programme for Christchurch on behalf of the Christchurch City Council.
I spoke at the opening ceremony of the tournament, which I'm told was viewed by a billion people.
In that ceremony I spoke of how proud I was of our city's sporting traditions.
I'd like say tonight I am very proud of all the volunteers and the great work you have done for our city. Thank you all most sincerely - your efforts have been greatly appreciated.