Cricket ACT determined to overcome challenges and grow women's first grade competition

With female participation numbers rising the association was keen to establish an elite league in Canberra.

That led to the addition of a new four-team first-grade competition that was built on top of what is now the second grade competition.

It was an attempt to establish a clear pathway to the ACT Meteors and allow women to play high-level cricket in Canberra without being forced to line up in the men's grade competition.

The eight clubs were partnered up to establish four merged teams in a move that was largely supported by the cricket community.

The new division, however, has run into a number of issues as teams struggle to maintain both a first and second grade side.

The first grade league has been put on ice for now, with officials looking to establish a three-team Twenty20 competition in February. North Canberra/Gungahlin are not expected to feature.

Cricket ACT head of cricket Stuart Karppinen concedes there have been challenges but remains committed to establishing an elite competition in Canberra.

"We're still working towards what a sustainable and viable competition structure looks like," Karppinen said. "With the player pool and player depth we've got, how do we make that work.

"We have the numbers and participation for second grade, the feedback from the clubs has been around getting the standard required for a first grade competition.

"There's a pretty big piece of work for us as a cricket community at the end of the season to sit down and look at the participation numbers. We're certainly growing the game in the junior space but it will take time for those players to filter through.

"There are a lot of young girls connected to cricket and the work for us is to make sure we transition them into the senior ranks. That takes time and we'll sit down and look at what that might look like moving forward."

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

The vision was to separate social cricket from the elite ranks to cater for different abilities and eliminate the gulf of talent in what is now second grade.

By establishing a competition above that level, those wishing to play for the enjoyment would be able to do so without having to take on professional cricketers.

The new first grade league would provide an avenue for the Meteors to play for their clubs in Canberra and allow emerging women to test themselves against the best.

Scheduling caused a number of issues and placed added strain on the clubs. As a result, a number of top cricketers opted to play in Sydney or in men's grade competitions rather than turn out for their women's side.

The ultimate goal is to build the first grade competition to a level that competes with Sydney, Melbourne and the men's competitions.

"That's what we're aspiring to," Karppinen said. "The Melbourne grade competition in the women's space is strong now even with the absence of professionally contracted players. It took 10 years to build to that point.

"It's unrealistic to think we'll have it fixed in the next two to three seasons, it will require more work but that's where we want to get to."

While the past two summers have been difficult, the clubs are united in their desire to grow women's cricket.

Resources, however, are stretched and they are working with Cricket ACT to attract new players to the sport.

The association is also determined to grow the number of women's coaches to help retain female cricketers.

North Canberra Gungahlin in particular have struggled for numbers and also withdrew from the second grade competition.

"We need to make cricket more attractive for women," Norths president Phil Coe said. "It's a challenge for everyone, not just Norths. It's a crowded marketplace which doesn't make life easy.

"Cricket has to build numbers across the board. Our aim is to rejoin second grade next year."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: