Cracker year ahead for cricket club

After more than 80 years, West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club continues to grow.

Registrations have opened for West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club, which recently celebrated its 86th year. Picture: istock

After more than 80 years, West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club continues to grow.

The club recently celebrated its 86th year and currently has about 675 members, making it one of the largest cricket clubs in the country.

A focus on growing female cricket participation has seen its membership soar to 73 girls last season.

This year the club will also run Blowfly Cricket for young people with special needs, and plans are in the works for a cricket academy where up-and-coming cricketers can attend special coaching clinics with “top class coaches”.

It has been a great year for the club already, after it was named a finalist in the Community Club of the Year award at the 2017 NSW Community Sports Awards last month.

Club chairman Barry McDonald said the club’s success over more than eight decades was due to a number of factors, including “that we follow a participation before results”.

“Our policy is everybody gets a go … everybody is equal and everybody participates and everyone gets an equal opportunity,” he said.

“And they keep registering year after year.”

The club, part of the Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai & Hills District Cricket Association, will hold a registration and information day at Oakhill Drive Public School on Sunday, July 30, from 1pm-4pm.

Registration is also available online.