Week celebrates female cricket

WOMEN around the wicket were highlighted recently with cricket matches played over the week in the leadup to International Women’s Day.

Organised through the Ballarat Cricket Association, the initiative has seen female-led matches taking place since Friday last week.

BCA female subcommittee chair Peta Guy said the games have been a successful showcase of women in the sport.

“It’s been really good so far,” she said. “We settled the top four for our semi-finals. We had a huge audience on Sunday at Alfredton with lots of people watching.

“It’s really important to highlight female participation in cricket. Half the world’s population is made up of women and cricket’s an excellent game for them to play.”

More than a dozen matches have been organised as part of the initiative, which will lead into a Good Friday game against the Bendigo Cricket Association to mark 150 years of women’s cricket on the goldfields.

Sunday saw the BCA’s first ever intra-association matches between its eastern and western clubs at Alfredton Recreation Reserve which also served as a selection round for the anniversary match.

Ms Guy said the 1874 occasion was a watershed moment for women’s cricket.

“The event is celebrating the absolute first recorded women’s game in Australia,” she said. “It predates the recorded women’s games as far in England too as far as we can tell.

“It was reported Australia-wide and overseas so it’ll be a celebration of the fact we’re still going after 150 years.

“Everyone enjoyed themselves during the inaugural match on Sunday.

“The East side won, and everyone wants to come back and do it again so we’ll be doing it in future years.”

With the majority of events having taken place, the final round of the weeks’ worth of games will occur this evening from 5pm.

The series will see under 14s matches between Mt Clear and Buninyong at Mount Clear Recreation Reserve, Golden Point against East Ballarat Opals at White Flat Oval, and Ballarat Redan versus Lucas at Alfredton Reserve.