IF the first match on 3rd February is any indication, the Thunder Girls’ T20 Cricket competition in Penrith and featuring teams from both the Nepean and Hawkesbury districts provides not only a platform for girls in the region to play fun and friendly cricket, but also charges up Friday night at Jamison Park with a great atmosphere. The four teams participating in the competition, Glenbrook-Blaxland Cricket Club, Cranebrook Cricket Club, Freeman’s Reach Cricket Club and North Richmond Cricket Club will all play T20 Matches every Friday night until March 17.

The Friday night T20 competition came together when Cricket NSW, with the help of the local associations, took the initiative to create a great opportunity to have girls practice their cricket skills together, bringing together those girls who were already playing cricket and those beginning their cricketing journey.

The competition is organised and administered by a female cricket committee, comprising cricket club volunteers, Cricket NSW and members of the Penrith Junior Cricket Association Executive Committee.

In particular, a local volunteer, Catherine Pratt, contributed immensely with her time and ideas to reviving the competition. Pratt, who is the event lead for the matches, has been instrumental for the last few years in supporting girls’ cricket at Glenbrook Blaxland CC and also in the representative space with the Penrith women’s teams.

There are two matches every Friday night, starting at 5.30 pm and wrapping up in two hours just before it gets dark.

Players can sign up to play at https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/b89a70 or through any of the current individual clubs.

Results of the matches are being posted on the ‘Thunder Girls Cricket League’ Facebook page and are also available on PlayHQ and MyCricket sites. The chief aim of the competition is inclusion and participation. Everyone gets a chance to bat and bowl, and have fun playing the
game.

Martin Gleeson, General Manager, Community Cricket Experience, Cricket NSW, said “The Thunder Girls’ Competition in Penrith and Nepean-Hawkesbury services an identified gap in the local cricketing landscape and will be a significant game changer for girls playing cricket in the region, as an opportunity to create pathways for them.”