North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Women witness club cricket changes
Lauren Down was barely a teenager when she made her senior club cricket debut. Now, eight years later, the Takapuna Ponies captain is marking major milestones and witnessing a revolution.
No longer a nervous 14-yearold debutant, Down is a leader with the bat and in the field for the club. She brought up her 100th game on Saturday.
‘‘I always hoped I would reach the milestone but there were certainly times I doubted I would reach this number of games due to injury,’’ Down said.
Takapuna’s reigning premier women’s batsman of the year has backed up a notable 2016/17 season, in which she scored 561 runs from 12 games, a one-day average of 94.40, a T20 average of 44.50, two centuries and an unbeaten 96, with strong start to the current club season.
Although Down was not the leading scorer in her milestone match against Parnell in the Prichard Cup limited overs championship, Takapuna still secured a 192 run victory at Auckland’s Orakei Domain.
Takapuna Ponies coach Chris Reid said for Down to have achieved what she has at 22 years old is ‘‘simply incredible’’.
‘‘She has shown great perseverance to push through substantial injuries, which has forced her to remodel herself from being a bowler into a top order batsman and she has shone in that role,’’ Reid said.
Down, who has played for the Auckland Hearts since she was 16, said last season with Takapuna stands out as the most memorable so far.
‘‘Winning two titles and making three finals is something the team are all very proud of and something we worked hard to achieve,’’ Down said.
Over the years, Down has watched the profile of women’s club cricket change.
‘‘At Takapuna we have created an identity for ourselves and people are starting to take more of an interest in women’s cricket which is great for the wider game.’’
Another significant change has come coaching. ‘‘When I first started we had a player-coach and a lot of the responsibility was on the captain to run the team on and off the field. We are now fortunate enough to have a coach, manager and scorer who are incredibly passionate and committed to improving us as cricketers and the women’s game.’’