Howzat! Caught behind on women’s cricket stats
Taranaki Cricket is hoping it’s not stumped when it comes to tracking down the history of the women’s game in the region.
The 128-year-old association has made a desperate appeal for anyone who has old scorebooks or clippings of Taranaki women’s representative matches dating back to 1978.
Motivating the search was a strong desire to create an honours board for Taranaki women’s players who have excelled on the pitch.
However, the association has been trapped leg before because no-one has actually kept track of what’s happened in the 44 years since the first Taranaki women rolled their arm over.
‘‘A couple of years ago, one of our Taranaki players, Emily Cunningham, got a century against Hawke’s Bay and one of our staff said ‘we better get that on the honours board’ and then they realised there wasn’t one,’’ Taranaki Cricket general manager Ryan Evans said.
‘‘It then became obvious that is something we have to change. We have started to look into it and our staff have realised we actually don’t have any of the old records.’’
The Taranaki men’s honours board notes achievements going back to 1929 after it was donated to the association in 1966.
It’s also a telling statement of just where women’s cricket sat in terms of importance in the publication of the Taranaki Cricket Association’s history.
Published in 2000 by former secretary, patron and administrator Brian Bellringer, A Tale Worth Telling chronologically records the evolution of the game in the region dating back to 1894. The male version, anyway. While time and space was dedicated to the men who had represented New Zealand, no such honour was afforded to Jackie Clark who was a White Fern in 1991 and 1992.
Others have since followed, including Aimee Watkins (nee Mason), Rachel Priest and Kate Ebrahim (nee Broadmore).
Watkins, who forged an international career which spanned a decade from 2002, played more than 100 one-day internationals for New Zealand and was ranked in the top 10 one-day batsmen and the fifth-best all-rounder in world cricket when she retired.
She’s hopeful there will be scorebooks tucked away in someone’s shed or wardrobe that provide the history note that her former team-mates deserve.
It would also help her find out how many centuries and wicket hauls she took for Taranaki, a side she first played for while being a junior at New Plymouth Girls’ High School.
‘‘I honestly don’t know what I scored and when I did, and it would be great to bring my kids up here show them just what I did,’’ Watkins said.
She said in the majority of times she represented Taranaki, the team’s manager or scorer was just a player’s mum. ‘‘So we’re hoping someone’s mum has got these scorebooks stored away somewhere,’’ she said.
Evans said the growth of women’s cricket across the country meant it was vitally important the formative years of the women’s’ game was documented.
‘‘We have to recognise and honour our female athletes for their achievements, and it would also give girls something to aspire to.’’
‘‘We have to recognise and honour our female athletes for their achievements, and it would also give girls something to aspire to.’’
Ryan Evans