Children mingled with cricketing greats in 'backyard' matches and Maori warriors shared the stage with morris dancers as the Cricket World Cup opened Thursday with a vibrant and quirky ceremony in Christchurch.

Thousands of fans crammed leafy Hagley Park to see the launch of the first World Cup in New Zealand and Australia in 23 years, the formal part of which began with a lone bagpiper and ended with a booming fireworks display - the biggest in the city's history.

The World Cup is the largest event Christchurch has hosted since an earthquake in February 2011 devastated the city's centre - only a few hundred yards from where Thursday's festivities took place, claiming the lives of 185 people.