By Jonty Ralphsmith
The region’s two local cricket leagues have reached a reciprocal agreement to boost female junior participation.
Clubs from the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) and the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) are permitted to compete in both leagues, allowing local girls to participate in more cricket.
The DDCA competition will take place on Wednesday nights, while the CCCA competition will take place on Monday nights.
The DDCA competition will follow a traditional approach where players are separated by age, but the CCCA is taking a revolutionary approach for the 2023-24 season.
The competition will have two stages: the first of which requires a minimum of seven players per team and is played with a soft ball, and the second of which is for more advanced players and played with a hard ball.
It is hoped both competitions will be fully-fledged with a minimum of six teams competing.
The modern approach largely removes players’ age from the equation and is aimed to encourage teenaged girls to take up the sport without apprehension of the skill level of opponents who may be more advanced.
It also will stimulate the advanced players at a higher standard, increasing the opportunity of them reaching representative cricket.
The following CCCA girls clubs look likely to field a team in the 2024-25 season: Clyde (two teams), Avengers, Officer, Upper Beaconsfield, Merinda Park.
Carlisle Park is also hopeful of fielding a team.
In 2024-25, the DDCA will have hard ball and soft ball competitions for the under-14s girls and under-16s girls, and a soft ball competition for under-12s.
In 2023-24, the DDCA had a girls-only junior competition in the under-14s age group with the following clubs taking part: Berwick (two teams), Berwick Strikers, Keysborough, Lynbrook, Narre South.
The DDCA also had a senior women’s T20 competition held in late 2023 which the following clubs competed in: Springvale South, Noble Park/Monash University, Parkmore/Bonbeach, Buckley Ridges, Parkfield, Dandenong West/Tooradin.
Casey Cardinia club Clyde is hopeful of entering three teams into competition this season, having invested heavily in equipment and waived the cost of registration and playing polos and caps, with its two coaches, Ben Knowles and William Round, both having completed a level one coaching course.
“It’s all about keeping it short, sharp and fun and competitive,” said Knowles, who serves as female cricket coordinator at Clyde.
Knowles is also the CCCA president, attending the Cricket Victoria girls forum last week as he pushes participation in the region.
“There’s so many games you can create on an oval so keeping the attention there is really important.
“It was a missing link for us to grow.
“It allows us to have more participation and people part of the club which helps with growing sponsorship and building for the future.”
All junior competitions in the CCCA and DDCA are played as mixed competitions, opening up another avenue for female participation.
The DDCA has been contacted for comment.
