Female numbers on growth wicket
Girls’ cricket in Manawatu¯ has experienced massive growth this summer.
Manawatu¯ Cricket Association general manager James Lovegrove said numbers in the female game had grown in the past year.
The weekly secondary schools’ competition started last season and now it is up to 11 teams and the senior women’s competition was resurrected this summer after a more-than-20-year absence.
Lovegrove was hopeful of getting more teams for the secondary schools’ competition.
Entered are Awatapu College, Freyberg High School, Feilding High School, two teams from St Peter’s College, Nga Tawa Diocesan School, Tararua College, Cullinane College from Whanganui, and three teams from Palmerston North Girls’ High School.
‘‘We had six teams last year and that has almost doubled.’’
At the start of the school term Girls’ High held trials for the first XI. Previously the school has not needed to do this because it only had enough players for one team.
This year they had 36 girls register for trials and have four teams: a first XI and three teams competing in the Wednesday night competition.
‘‘The massive growth shows the girls’ programme in the junior programme is really strong.
‘‘A lot of them are year 9 from the [Manawatu¯ Cricket Association] girls’ club.’’
They play an eight-a-side, 16-over competition to make sure everyone gets a go.
Lovegrove said the games were about participation, enjoyment and success.
He said it was fantastic girls’ cricket was getting more visibility and having Central Hinds players Mikaela Greig and Hannah Rowe in the region helped.
Women’s community cricket coordinator Amy Johnson has done a lot of work to increase player numbers.
The four-team senior women’s competition also resumed after Christmas and Lovegrove wanted to attract more teams to that grade.
The Girls’ High first XI will play New Plymouth Girls’ High School on March 17 in an interschool match, then the Central Districts qualifiers for the national championships are at Fitzherbert Park on March 23.