Tons of experience for Belinda and Katie

MOST cricketers want to reach 100, but Katie Cole and Belinda Page will be celebrating a different type of century tomorrow.

Cole from Clarence Cricket Club and Page from North Hobart Cricket Club are set to be the first women in CTPL history to reach 100 matches in the competition.

The former will achieve the milestone against University at Kangaroo Bay and the later against South Hobart Sandy Bay at the TCA.

“It’s an honour to make it to the hundred,” Cole said. “It’s taken a while for us to get here but you’d imagine it will be quicker for the next generation.”

Both women started playing cricket at school and remember playing in a social competition before the CTPL brought in women’s cricket.

“It was a four-team competition and it was pretty casual,” Page said.

“It was a competition run by a few volunteers,” Cole said.

“Then Cricket Tasmania took things over and started to build it from the bottom up.”

The CTPL women’s competition has come a long way since the pair started playing in its inaugural season in 2009-10.

“We started out on synthetic wickets at a timeslot of whatever was available,” Cole said.

“Now we get to use turf wickets at a reasonable time.”

“Definitely the junior development has progressed with things like the under-17s competition coming in,” Page said.

“The pathway now is excellent for junior cricket.

“The personnel and structures they have put in place have paid off, the standard has changed so much.”

School cricket is where it started for both players and Page also had experience playing indoor cricket.

Page mentioned her four premierships for North Hobart as her career highlights but couldn’t overlook the friendships the game has given her. “I’ve never focused on winning with sport. I enjoy more the mateship and friends you gain through it,” Page said.