Schoolgirl cricketers mix and match in Brightwater
The Wanderers and Selwyn Wahine players enjoyed playing against each other at the Top of the South tournament. Photo: Supplied.
Up to 40 teenage cricketers descended on the Wanderers Cricket Club grounds for the annual Top of the South Tasman Te Tau Ihu Tournament.
The Brightwater-based club is renowned for its youth development programmes and this one is aimed at encouraging girls from Year 9 upwards to see whether it is a sport for them to pursue.
“The younger girls get to mix with some of the older ones who definitely show some talent. Several of the Wanderers girls have already played for the Nyxons, the Nelson women’s rep team,” says tournament organiser Jo Cotton.
“It is about developing everyone’s skills to bring them up and through.”
Four teams took part over the three-day event at Centennial Park.
While injuries forced Marlborough to pull out, a combined Selwyn side travelled up from its Springston base.
“We have an all-girls cricket club, Selwyn Wahine, with five teams. It’s great to come up here where you can combine sides as well to get fresh competition,” says Jenny Duncan, who runs the club.
Selwyn Wahine didn’t get any special treatment though with the host Wanderers club overwhelming them in their second match.
The tornament was timely given the White Ferns recent T20 World Cup triumph, and as part of the ongoing celebrations New Zealand Cricket put on a lunch for the girls on the second day.
The organisers also developed a hub of sorts with all teams staying at the Tea Pot Valley Christian Camp in Brightwater. They had to make sure their T20 games finished in time to get back for dinner at their accommodation.
One of the Nelson sides Tasman Force, was declared the competition winner on aggregate, probably helped by having some of the Wanderers players in its team, while the individual standout was Wanderers’ Madison Greenaway whose experience showed with an unbeaten half century against the Selwyn Wahine.
She also hit the only six of the tournament.
Jo says they hope to have six to eight teams join in the fun for next year’s third staging, another team from Canterbury and one from Wellington. If so, the nearby Lord Rutherford Park is likely to be pressed into service as well, for matches.