Cricket Victoria considers more teams for Women’s Premier Cricket

A boom in women’s cricket has the peak Victorian sporting body looking at expanding the Premier competition. Here’s what is planned so far.

Ringwood’s Una Raymond-Hoey.

The message from Geelong is as resounding as Steve Smith straight drive: we’re ready to play.

As Cricket Victoria considers expanding the Women’s Premier Premier Firsts amid a boom in female cricket, the Cats say they have everything in place to join the competition.

“Our aspiration is to have our women’s section to be the equal of the men’s section and part of that is obviously gaining membership in Premier women’s cricket,’’ Geelong president Michael King said.

“We have a strong ambition to get in and we’re in the process of putting our best fot forward.

“There’s such great female talent right through south-west Victoria.

“We’d love to get in and give the young girls and women a pathway to play for Geelong and maybe go on all the way to play for Australia.

“We’re ready to go as soon as we get an opportunity.’’

The Women’s Premier Firsts competition has eight clubs – Box Hill, Carlton-Brunswick, Dandenong, Essendon Maribyrnong Park, Melbourne, Plenty Valley, Prahran and Ringwood – each filling three teams.

Premier Cricket manager Darren Anderson is working on a “competition expansion/feasibility’’ review for the CV women’s Premier Cricket advisory panel.

It will ultimately be presented to the Cricket Victoria board.

“We’re trying to determine if we’re in a position to look at expansion in the short-term,’’ Anderson said.

“We’ve surveyed and spoken with all the current men’s and women’s clubs as well as conducted a detailed analysis into all available geographic and participation data and trends to help inform our decisions. A submission will get sent to the board, for the board to make a considered approach and assessment.’’

He said the review was in its final stages.

The Premier Firsts competition last expanded in 2018, when Ringwood and Carlton Brunswick were promoted after success in Premier Seconds.

At the same time Coburg, Melton and Brighton Districts went back to community cricket.

The review is being undertaken as female cricket in Victoria enjoys great growth.

In 2014-15 there were 46 senior and just 13 junior teams in the state.

Now there are 170 senior and 300 junior teams.

Champion Meg Lanning playing for Box Hill two weeks ago.

Aside from the Victorian Women’s Community Competition, there are senior competitions attached to the Geelong, Colac, Hamilton, Bendigo, Sunraysia, Goulburn Murray, Castlemaine and Warrnambool associations, as well as Cricket Southern Bayside, the Victorian Turf Cricket Association, North Metro and North West.

Anderson said any decision about more teams joining Premier ranks would take into account the impact on existing clubs.

He said there was “interest everywhere’’.

“I’ve even received a phone call from a club that wants to become a Premier club and it doesn’t have a turf wicket or turf facilities,’’ Anderson said.

“It wants to know what it needs to do going forward. Now that’s an unlikely scenario but the interest is really pleasing.’’

Geelong and Greenvale Kangaroos have teams affiliated with the Victorian Women’s Community Competition, although the Cats are fielding them in the local competition this season owing to COVID-19.

Geelong, the Kangaroos, Frankston-Peninsula and Northcote played an Under 18 miniseries two weeks ago that was separate to the Premier Cricket girls Under 18 exhibition series.

Michael King.

Cats president King said his club had two senior teams and the local competition ran a “very strong’’ women’s division.

“It’s shot up to 28 teams and it will be more next season,’’ he said.

“There’s real growth and development happening at a grassroots level with some really talented 14, 15, 16-year-old girls.

“The next step for us now is entry to the Premier women’s competition.’’

Frankston-Peninsula has no connection to the Frankston Women’s Cricket Club, which plays in the Shield division of the community competition, but is interested in forming a women’s section.

“We have a vision to hop into that space some time down the track,’’ Frankston Peninsula administration manager Mike Ronchi said.

“We look at it as a long journey to get it all in place.

“We’d look at starting a female development program in the first instance and working alongside our local and surrounding communities, then probably start off with a community team.’’

Ronchi was the Victorian Premier Cricket manager who endorsed Ringwood and Carlton-Brunswick moving into Premier Firsts.

He said the time was right for Cricket Victoria to look at the structure of women’s Premier Cricket.

“The women’s Premier landscape was restructured three years ago with a vision in mind to increase the foot print and accessibility to it,’’ he said.

“It’s time to look at that next stage. I know there is a lot of momentum from women in sport in most codes. It’s moved pretty quickly.’’

Ronchi said there was “much more growth to be had’’ in women’s cricket.

“It’s well developed as a product at the top end with the Big Bash. It’s there for everyone to see, and the girls to aspire to,’’ he said.

Northcote has been developing links with Edinburgh Cricket Club, which is based at Brunswick St Oval.

Casey South Melbourne president Shaun Petrie said his club was keen to establish a female section and had ambitions to play in women’s Premier ranks.

He said the club might start a junior girls team next season, taking a start-from-scratch approach that would eventually lead to affiliation in the community competition.

EMP’s Alyssa Humphries hits out.

This season Cricket Victoria introduced the Premier Thirds competition, intended for younger, developing players.

In the early rounds it was a talking point for the number of extras the teams were recording (one bowled 73 wides in a match). Plenty Valley has also struggled for players, and forfeited two weeks ago.

Anderson said the standard had improved.

“It’s been a good learning curve for the clubs and the girls coming in,’’ he said.

“It’s a fair bit younger than the First and Second XI competitions, but it’s also an opportunity for the girls to have a bit of an introduction to the Premier Cricket environment and get some Premier Cricket coaching.

“From Round 1 through to the last round the performances have got better but that’s probably the case with most cricket where we saw a number of extras in the first few rounds, men and women.

“They’ve since got a bit of continuity and played a few more games.’’