A New Zealand Cricket official has said that the immediate friends and family of those players from Christchurch are okay in the aftermath of a 6.3-magnitude quake that struck the city on Tuesday, with 65 people reported dead so far Christchurch earthquake sparks concern in NZ squad Brendon McCullum, Hamish Bennett, coach John Wright and several members of the support staff have links to the area. Some members of the team had already taken to Twitter to express their concern for those back home

A New Zealand Cricket official has said that the immediate friends and family of those players from Christchurch are okay in the aftermath of a 6.3-magnitude quake that struck the city on Tuesday, with 65 people reported dead so far.

"All immediate friends and family are [okay], but that doesn't detract from the fact that there have been fatalities," Ellery Tappin, the New Zealand media manager said. All the members of the Australian women's team, which was training out of Christchurch when the quake struck, have also emerged unscathed.

Brendon McCullum, Hamish Bennett, coach John Wright and several members of the support staff have links to the area. Some members of the team had already taken to Twitter to express their concern for those back home. "Thoughts go out to the people of Chch today. Terrible thing to have happened again," New Zealand opener Martin Guptill wrote on the micro-blogging site. Meanwhile allrounder Scott Styris expressed his concern for the members of his squad who have families in Christchurch, "Watching CNN. Amazing scenes. Some worried boys here in India. Be safe."

New Zealand are scheduled to play their second World Cup game against Australia in Nagpur on Friday.