Tassie reverses slump at wicket

A THREE-YEAR drop in cricket participation in Tasmania has been emphatically snapped with the state recording a big increase in people joining the sport.

The release of Cricket Australia’s 2019-20 Australian Cricket Census has shown a 10.5 per cent increase in registered players (20,690) — defined as people playing club cricket, indoor cricket, organised school competitions and non-club cricket competitions.

Female participation also grew to 3592 players (a 16 per cent increase), highlighting the growth of the female game in recent years.

Overall club cricket participation grew in Tasmania, with junior leagues increasing by 13 per cent (5592) and senior leagues growing by 4.6 per cent (8373).

“Volunteers are the backbone of community sport right across the country,” Cricket Tasmania chief Dominic Baker said.

“The time and effort that is put in to growing our cricket clubs is first class and has delivered the growth that we’ve seen over the summer.

“I’m particularly pleased at the increase in women and girls playing cricket. Following the release of the review into the women’s Premier League Competition this week we know that improving the experience for females playing the sport is key to this number growing even further.

“The work that the Tasmanian Government has done in recent years to make more facilities female friendly through the Levelling the Playing Field program has been a game changer for women’s sport, and their contribution can’t go unacknowledged.

“The issue we do face though is the actual number of facilities. Competitions are played on most weeknights and all weekend which puts our existing grounds at capacity.

“From what we’re hearing we expect the upcoming season to have more players and teams than ever as people search for a social and active outlet following the year we’ve had.”

Across the country, the 2019-20 census showed a 3.8 per cent increase in registered participation, up a total of 709,957 players.

This included an 11.4 per cent rise in female cricket and 14 per cent for the Woolworths Cricket Blast participation.