Downs women set to showcase their skills

Prior to the DDBBL grand final, the best young women’s talent on the Downs will take centre stage at Heritage Oval.

Toowoomba’s Ruth Johnston (pictured for the Ipswich Hornets) will line up for the All Stars tomorrow. Picture: Rob Williams

CRICKET: Some of the best rising talent from Toowoomba and the Darling Downs will get the chance to shine on the big stage at Heritage Oval tomorrow.

A Darling Downs All Stars team has been mustered for a Twenty20 fixture against a composite Brisbane Metro side to begin proceedings on DDBBL grand final day.

Toowoomba Girls Cricket Hub coach Anthony Clark has played a leading role in organising the fixture and the teams, and said it was important to highlight how far the women’s game has come on the Downs.

“I’ve been involved with girls cricket for nearly seven years now, and we wanted to showcase some of the girls that have come through the ranks,” Clark said.

“They’ve gone from playing juniors through to grade cricket in Brisbane, and we thought a curtain raiser would be a good idea to promote women’s cricket and show others how they’re playing and what is happening on the Downs.”

An impressive list of players has been confirmed for the fixtures, including six players from the Queensland U18s side and two members of the Papua New Guinea national team.

“Because it’s before the DDBBL and we’ve seen the hype that it’s been able to produce over the last few months, the girls really wanted to be a part of it,” he said.

“They’re happy to give something back to the community that has supported them through their experience on the ride to where they want to go as cricketers.

“Hopefully there are some young girls there that are watching and stick around to watch the men as well.

“I’m hoping that Ruth Johnston, Lauryn Anderson and Georgia Voll will turn it on for us.

“We’ve also got two girls from PNG that are playing in a few T20 World Cup warm-up matches. They’re playing grade cricket out here to get some match experience, and there is an affiliation with the Ipswich Hornets.”

Clark said a goal would be for women on the Downs and surrounds to be able to have a similar T20 spotlight in the future.

“There’s the potential that if this gains enough momentum, there’s no reason why we couldn’t run own women’s DDBBL,” he said.

“To have four team franchises would be awesome, and the ultimate goal for us.”

The match begins at 9am tomorrow at Heritage Oval.

DARLING DOWNS ALL STARS TEAM: Ruth Johnston, Georgia Voll (c), Brenda Tau, Sibona Jimmy, Ella Harvey, Jaime-Lee Strang, Jenny Anderson, Layla Proctor, Olivia Bennett, Lucy Neumann, Lauryn Anderson, Macy Hauser

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