Soaring rate of interest is swell
CLUBS EAGER TO BOOST COMP
GEELONG’S successful women’s cricket competition is set to grow dramatically in its second season, with 25 teams already keen to get on the park and a tweak to the league planned.
The Barwon Women’s Cricket Competition kicked off last year with 17 teams in two divisions, with all matches in T20 format.
Irrewarra ultimately took the crown over Ocean Grove in February’s grand final.
Played on Sundays, the competition was deemed a success and has resulted in several clubs including South Barwon and Lethbridge showing interest in joining in.
The GCA’s delegate to the league Lisa Armstrong-Rowe said interest had been strong even with COVID-19 slowing down local sport.
Clubs have until August 31 to sign their teams up.
“It’s the second year and we are pretty excited about that,” Armstrong-Rowe said.
“We had a subcommittee meeting (on Tuesday) and we were talking about this being year two of a five year development phase.”
The competition will likely start around the same time as the GCA, which is aiming to begin on October 24. It is likely the competition will feature grading games as part of a 12 week season, with teams to be split into two divisions.
Last year, teams were broken up by geography into North and South divisions. Clubs were drawn from as far apart as Portarlington, Shelford and Ballarat. The higher ranked division could see clubs play 11a-side after last season was played with nine on each team.
While some players expressed a desire last season for games to played in longer formats than T20, a player survey backed that format.
“We’re pretty sure it will be a T20 competition for the second year,” Armstrong-Rowe said.
“You still have so many new clubs and there will be plenty of teams where the people involved haven’t played before so it would be difficult I think to introduce a longer form.
“The survey supported the T20 format.
“Certainly there are some who are keen for a longer format but we don’t want to run when we can’t walk.”
Armstrong-Rowe said the pathway for junior girls into the women’s competition would also be looked at.