2022-23 COMMUNITY CRICKET YEARBOOK A SPO RT FO R A L L
Get the edge and launch your career in sport!
APPLY NOW via RMIT
RTO Code: 3046
Contents
5
F RO M T H E C EO
6
PA RT I C I PAT I O N
9
WO M E N A N D G I R L S
10
M U LT I C U LT U R A L
11
DIVERSIT Y AND INCLUSION
13
SCHOOLS
15
UMPIRES
15
INDOOR AND SOCIAL CRICKET
16
AU S T R A L I A N C R I C K E T I N F R A S T RU C T U R E F U N D
18
C R I C K E T V I C TO R I A F O U N DAT I O N
19
CO M M U N I T Y C R I C K E T AWA R DS
20
M E L B O U R N E S TA R S CO M M U N I T Y
22
M E L B O U R N E R E N EG A D E S CO M M U N I T Y
24
VCC L
25
VM C U
26
VS D C A
3
Attendees at our Women’s and Girls Week volunteers’ function held at the CitiPower Centre.
Fans meet Melbourne Renegades player Jake Fraser-McGurk.
Woolworths Cricket Blast participants at Great Ryrie Primary School.
Woolworths Cricket Blast kids enjoy their time on the MCG.
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees Ian Redpath (left) and Marg Jennings (right) with Hall of Fame Chairman, Peter King.
50 Year Service Award recipients receive their certificates at the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
From the CEO Season 2022-23 saw cricket back in full force at grounds across our state.
continued. One in every four Woolworths Cricket Blast participants are now girls and we are aiming higher again.
I would like to congratulate winners and premiers from all over Victoria and the hard-working teams working behind the scenes to ensure cricket at every level is a fun, inclusive and enjoyable experience for all.
We’ve also recognised an opportunity to connect and grow the number of Victorian cricket participants coming through the Under 10s, 11s and 12s groups who may have had part of their cricket journey disrupted by the pandemic.
On behalf of everyone involved in Victorian cricket I would like to thank every volunteer for their support. Our sport cannot exist without the incredible support you provide to our game.
From a facilities perspective, Victoria had the most applications in the country for the Australian Cricket Infrastructure Fund and I’m pleased to say we will have nearly 100 new projects funded - more than anywhere else in the country.
Whether you are running junior clinics, coaching teams or scoring in the pavilion, you are the people that make cricket tick every week. In good news for participation and clubs, this season saw a record number of children aged 5-12 registered to play cricket in Australia. We have never had more children in that age group involved in the game. It’s great news for the game and testament to the work that has been done by clubs and associations after the pandemic to continue to grow the interest in our game. The surge in the growth of women and girls’ cricket has also
I would like to thank the Federal Government and Victorian Government for their ongoing support for cricket and the facilities we need to grow our game. Victorian cricket is in a strong position as we look forward to season 2023-24. Please enjoy this record of some of Victorian cricket’s wonderful achievements last season and I look forward to an exciting and action-packed summer ahead. Nick Cummins Chief Executive Officer
5
Participation by the Numbers Social Cricket: 4,373
Indoor Cricket: 39,611 Club Cricket: 123,169
Woolworths Cricket Blast:
17,937
Women and Girls: 31,213
Participation Participation across Victoria grew once again in 2022/23, making it another successful cricket season for our state. Numbers increased by five per cent to 221,561, with growth coming from a range of formats including junior and senior cricket, social cricket,
schools, and importantly Woolworths Cricket Blast. Amongst our youngest cricketers we saw a 30% increase in participation, far exceeding our target of 12%. This is a great result for the future of our game.
7
Making a difference to the Victorian community through cricket. Cricket Victoria’s Foundation is making a difference in key areas of the Victorian community.
The Foundation’s three pillars of support are: Our Community
Accessible Participation
A Sport for All
Delivering cricket opportunities for culturally-diverse communities across the state.
Providing accessible participation and volunteering opportunities across Victorian cricket.
Supporting and engaging women and girls in cricket into the future.
Scan to donate, or to find out more
Women and Girls In November, Cricket Victoria introduced its Women and Girls Strategy, a new six-year roadmap for women and girls’ cricket in the state. The roadmap addressed three key areas: strengthening Cricket Victoria’s existing footprint in community cricket, creating a truly integrated competition in Premier Cricket, and building the leading female high-performance system in Australian cricket. The announcement of the strategy coincided with Women and Girls in Cricket Week – a celebration of the contribution of women
and girls to our game. A highlight of the week was a lunch for 110 community cricket volunteers held at the CitiPower Centre during a WBBL match. The most notable growth amongst females in season 2022/2023 came from Woolworths Cricket Blast with 4596 girls participating, up 93% from the previous year. With a record number of girls participating in our entry level program, Victoria is in a strong position to turn these juniors into future cricket stars.
Melbourne Stars WBBL player Tess Flintoff meets a fan at a Woolworths Cricket Blast clinic in Melbourne’s east.
9
Multicultural Cricket amongst our multicultural communities continues to thrive, largely due to programs designed to engage those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Cricket Victoria ran 51 Woolworths Community Fund programs, providing opportunities for more than 2,000 people who traditionally don’t have access to cricket.
PHOTO: Teams compete in the Melbourne Renegades Champions League.
Nearly 3,000 participants took part in our Harmony in Cricket competitions and our popular Melbourne Renegades Champions League took place once again with local players representing six South-Asian communities; India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan. A record number of cricketers registered for the Champions League, with 228 people putting their hand up to make the final 90 players selected. Sri Lanka were victorious for the third consecutive year, defeating India in the final by 26 runs.
Diversity and Inclusion Victoria had an extremely successful return to the National Cricket Inclusion Championships, winning two of the three divisions at the tournament held in Brisbane in January. Our Deaf team broke a 20-year drought winning their first title since 2003, whilst our ID team were also victorious, finishing the tournament undefeated. Our Blind team finished fourth, going down to Queensland by 25 runs in the placing final.
The National Indigenous Championships took place in late February in Alice Springs, with our men’s team finishing fourth and our women’s team finishing fifth. Highlights from the tournament included the men’s player Jhiah Baxter making 125 against the Northern Territory. Whilst for our women’s team, opening batter Tahlia Meier made 58 not out, leading her team to victory their opening game also against the Northern Territory.
PHOTO: Our victorious Deaf (above) and ID (below) teams at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Brisbane.
11
HOST YOUR EVENT AT CITIPOWER CENTRE JUNCTION OVAL, ST KILDA
Hosting a club function, long lunch, cocktail party or information evening?
Enjoy one of our stylish function spaces at the home of Victorian cricket. Delicious food and beverage packages are available at cricket club friendly prices.
For enquiries, scan the QR code or contact: events@cricketvictoria.com.au
Schools Cricket Victoria’s relationships with schools returned to normal in season 2022/23 as our staff and local clubs returned for clinics, programs, and promotional visits. Our focus this season was to connect local cricket clubs with schools within their regions through activations and programs such as the Mascot Challenge, W/BBL Roadshows and Sporting Schools. These programs provide thousands of students across the state with positive cricket experiences. We also utilised the Woolworths Community Fund and Growing Cricket for Girls funding streams to connect with students who hadn’t previously played cricket.
We supported the School Sporting Associations, specifically in running the School Sport Victoria Year 5/6 Blast State Championships and their U12 Australian Championships in Ballarat. New girls competitions started across various associations with the Sports Association of Catholic Coeducational Secondary Schools growing their competition to 100 girls across eight schools. This was also the first year of our work with Assumption College (Kilmore) where we are building a relationship that will grow cricket in the north and east of the state.
U12 Boys’ Cricket Team (Victoria White), gold medallists at the School Sport Australia 12 Years and Under Cricket Championships.
13
Umpires This season we welcomed 248 new accredited umpires to the Victorian cricket community. With further growth in mind, this season we began implementing a new umpire recruitment strategy late in the season to attract, train, develop, and retain umpires across Premier and community cricket. The strategy specifically focuses on increasing participation levels of junior umpires, women and girl umpires and community umpires across the state, through recruitment campaigns and
innovative and accessible training programs. We began a junior umpiring pilot program to nurture young talent, and will be introducing a past player to umpire initiative to assist past players looking to transition into umpiring roles. A new umpire pathway will also be created to complement Cricket Victoria’s High-Performance Pathway. This pathway will facilitate the transition of community level umpires into high performance roles.
Premier Cricket Panel Umpire Clare Haysom officiates a Premier Cricket women’s match between Carlton CC and Ringwood CC.
Indoor and Social Cricket A Victorian player competes at the Indoor Cricket Championships at Casey Stadium.
Social Cricket continues to play an important role in community cricket participation, with a range of formats available for people to enjoy. Cricket Victoria’s Social Sixes program is a great example of how we can support communities in providing opportunities to play cricket in nontraditional settings. The National Indoor Cricket Championships were held at Casey Stadium, with a total of 348 games being played across all age groups. Victoria had 14 teams and 168 participants, with the Under 18 boys and Over 30 Women’s teams winning their respective divisions.
15
Australian Cricket Infrastructure Fund
$1.35m AUSTRALIAN CRICKET INVESTMENT IN GRASSROOTS FACILITIES
$38.3 million
COMMUNITY CRICKET INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT IN VICTORIA
1
28
85
TOTAL NUMBER OF PROJECTS
25
GROUND AND PITCH REDEVELOPMENTS
TRAINING NET DEVELOPMENTS AND UPGRADES
26
PAVILION, INCLUSIVE CHANGE ROOMS & OTHER FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS
LEARN MORE CRICKETVICTORIA.COM.AU/GRANTS
Hoddles Creek Cricket Club Before
After
Hoddles Creek Cricket Club gained Australian Cricket Infrastructure Funding to refurbish the practice training facilities at Hoddles Creek Community Reserve. The upgraded synthetic training surface has significantly improved the safety for all users as well as increasing the carrying capacity of the facility. This has allowed the club to grow its participation numbers and programming opportunities for the local cricket community.
City of Greater Dandenong Before
After
The synthetic pitch at Thomas Carroll Reserve in Dandenong was upgraded thanks to the City of Greater Dandenong’s application for Australian Cricket Infrastructure Funding. The existing wicket sat lower than the surrounding turf, leaving it prone to holding water after rain, causing many fixtured games to be washed out. The upgrade of the synthetic wicket has also supported the development the St Mary’s Cricket Clubs’ junior program. By widening the existing narrow pitch to meet the current guidelines, it has created an improved playing experience for all, especially newcomers and younger age groups.
17
Cricket Victoria Foundation This season Cricket Victoria proudly launched the Cricket Victoria Foundation. The Foundation will promote and support the development of cricket and access to the sport at grassroots level across Victoria. The Foundation has three key areas of focus: accessibility, increasing cricket and education opportunities for Aboriginal and
Cricket Victoria Foundation First XI dinner at the CitiPower Centre.
Torres Strait Islanders, and supporting the growth of women and girls’ cricket through development programs both on and off field. A spectacular fundraising event was held at the CitiPower Centre in June to celebrate its launch, with around 100 guests, including current and past players, staff members and key supporters of cricket in Victoria.
Community Cricket Awards Our Community Cricket Awards took place in March at the CitiPower Centre, celebrating some of our game’s most dedicated volunteers and administrators. The awards celebrate contributions which grow the game at all levels and by highlighting exceptional service to key areas of participation.
2022-23 WINNERS
Celebrating Cricket in Schools: Traralgon West Cricket Club
Community Coach of the Year: David Swierzbiolek (Parkfield Cricket Club)
Community Partnership of the Year: St Joseph’s Cricket Club
Indoor Facility of the Year: Casey Stadium YMCA
Community Match Official of the Year: Bill Sheehan
Women and Girls Initiative of the Year: Sale-Maffra Cricket Association
Premier Club of the Year: Frankston Peninsula Cricket Club
Community Cricket Association of the Year: Ringwood District Cricket Association
Inclusion and Diversity Initiative of the Year: Barwon Women’s Cricket Competition
Community Cricket Club of the Year: Sanctuary Lakes Cricket Club
Junior Cricket Initiative of the Year: Altona Sports Cricket Club
Young Leader of the Year: Daniel Melican (Footscray United Cricket Club)
Technology and Media Initiative of the Year: Luke Alford (Laburnum Cricket Club)
Volunteer of the Year: Daniel Melican (Footscray United Cricket Club)
Volunteer of the Year, Daniel Melican.
Volunteers and administrators at the Community Cricket Awards.
19
Melbourne Stars in the Community The Melbourne Stars had a wonderful season of engagement with the cricket community. Our participation strategy delivered growth in the five to 12-year-old demographic, particularly in girls and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
Some highlights this season included an All Girls Master Blaster Program held at James Bathe Reserve, a Woolworths Community Fund after school program at Great Ryrie Primary School with 130 participants and a brilliant All Abilities clinic at Rowville Cricket Club, where Melbourne Stars’ WBBL player Tess Flintoff attended as a guest coach.
This season we had 8,339 participants in Woolworths Cricket Blast across our eight Melbourne Stars aligned regions, as well as over 27,000 school children participating in the Mascot Challenge program.
Cricket Victoria staff, Victorian State cricketer Olivia Henry and students enjoy a Woolworths Cricket Blast clinic in Melbourne’s east.
The Stars hit the road once again for our annual regional State Blitz, visiting 45 schools and 2,500 students in 30 key areas in the Casey-Cardinia, North East Victoria and Gippsland regions. As part of this trip, players took part in Stars Foundation activites, completing a Cultural Awareness Tour, experiencing a Phillip Island penguin parade and participating in National Tree Day activity.
Our WBBL squad, staff and community cricket team also visited schools in Inner East and South Metro parts of Melbourne connecting with schools ahead of the WBBL Festival Weekend at the CitiPower Centre, where we played our first matches in Victoria in over two years. Some season highlights for the Stars included 12,805 members, our Family Day at Casey Fields where over 3,500 fans attended and a return to strong crowds at the BBL with over 114,000 fans attending Stars home games throughout BBL|12.
Fans enjoy our Stars Super Clinic at the MCG.
21
Melbourne Renegades in the Community Across the season the Renegades community team connected with the western part of the state promoting cricket opportunities for people in those regions. In July, our BBL and WBBL players hit the road to visit schools and community groups across the north and west of Victoria. Visiting five regions, 20 towns and 40 schools, we engaged with close to 3,500 primary school kids.
We were fortunate to attend some fantastic community events including the Begonia Festival in Ballarat, the North Melbourne Primary School Fete where we worked with local club Youlden Parkville Cricket Club, and the Djerriwarrh Festival, which is Melton City Council’s largest annual festival.
Renegades players Sam Harper and Sophie Molineux visit a school in Corio as part of the club’s Regional Roadshow.
We continued our focus on activating at community events within the Melbourne, Wyndham, Ballarat and Geelong areas to further cement our supporter base in these regions. Our club held activations at the Werribee Children’s Picnic, Essendon FC’s The Long Walk, school fetes and other locally based community events that has seen engagement reach approximately 10,000 people. As part of our commitment to the Wyndham region, the Renegades’ Family Day was held at Chirnside Park in Werribee
with approximately 2,000 fans making their way there for a range of activities and sponsor activations, as well as a practice match between the Renegades BBL squad and Stars’ Academy team. The Renegades Super Clinic was held in January, the day following the Derby against the Stars, at Marvel Stadium. Almost 300 juniors participated in two sessions across the day, which also featured eight players from the BBL|12 squad.
Renegades fans meet their heroes at the club’s Family Day at Chirnside Park, Werribee.
23
Victorian Country Cricket League Country cricket welcomed back two of its major programs to full strength this season, the Australian Country Cricket Championships and our Melbourne Country Week, which celebrated its delayed 100th birthday.
A highlight of the season was the launch of the VCCL Hall of Fame with several life members, RF Merriman Medal winners and 18 Melbourne Country Week players and officials inducted at our Melbourne Country Week celebration at Wendouree in February.
In Canberra, our state men’s squad won its second consecutive championship (three COVID years apart), this time led by new captain coach combination of Lee Stockdale and Peter Buchanan. At Melbourne Country Week, Ferntree Gully won its first-ever Provincial title, while Warrnambool earned promotion to the top division with a convincing Division 2 win.
Our country associations continue to work hard to provide the best possible competitions for their senior and junior players, whilst the regional centres are maintaining participation numbers.
The ACCC title-winning Vic Country squad.
THE ACCC TITLE-WINNING VIC COUNTRY SQUAD. BACK – TRAVIS HARLING (MANAGER), PETER BUCHANAN (COACH), JACK WRIGGLESWORTH, CAMERON TAYLOR, AIDAN LENEHAN, ETHAN BOYD, CAMERON WHEELER, TOM SMITH, JAKE TOOHEY, FIONA MINETT (SCORER).
President Kelvin White inducts long-time Melbourne Country Week player and official Trevor Saker into the VCCL Hall of Fame.
Captains Sean O’Neill (Geelong CA) and Nathan Walsh (Ferntree Gully DCA) with the certificates presented to all associations that participated in the 100th birthday of Melbourne Country Week.
FRONT – JORDAN MORAN, CAMERON WILLIAMS, LEE STOCKDALE (CAPTAIN), KIERRAN VOELKL, BRAYDEN STEPIEN, JACK REITSCHEL, NATHAN WALSH
Victorian Metropolitan Cricket Union The beginning of our 2022/2023 season was delayed due to inclement weather, however all associations were flexible in their approach and completed their seasons by the end of March. Our Junior Carnival was a resounding success this season, with 104 teams competing, 302 games played, and nearly 1,300 junior cricketers getting a taste of representative cricket. We had 14 associations competing, with 11 different associations making finals. From the draft census on team participation, the metropolitan cricket team numbers in the 22/23 season were up around seven per cent overall. Senior team numbers were up nearly nine per cent and junior teams were up one per cent, which is a great outcome given the late start to the season and still some COVID uncertainty.
Participation in our Woolworths Cricket Blast programs grew nearly 20 per cent to over 16,000 participants. We’re hoping this increase will feed through to junior cricket participation in the next three to five years. Some key focus areas for the VMCU in the next few seasons will be to increase participation and retention rates, continue provide a well run junior carnival, and work with Cricket Victoria to provide support to our volunteers. We’re also focussing on increasing the number of umpires and assisting clubs and associations in the transition to the new PlayHQ software.
Players participate in the Eastern Cricket Association.
25
Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association This season the VSDCA had 32 clubs and 3,869 registered players. There was growth in participation numbers across our association, which was most evident in our junior offerings. Woolworths Cricket Blast programs were conducted across 27 clubs with 591 participants, and we had 270 male and 17 female under-aged sides. The VSDCA has committed to the expansion of female cricket via the Woolworths Cricket Blast program, in an attempt to increase female participation at the grassroot level over the next five seasons. The long-term objective is for the VSDCA to have a vibrant male and female senior competitions. Our clubs fielded 22 male and 15 female senior sides, 23 veteran sides and six all abilities sides in other competitions.
The First XI East/West Group Premiership was won by Spotswood in only their second season, and the North/South Group was won by Caulfield for the second time in consecutive seasons. Balwyn won the Under 15 JG Craig Premiership, and Preston our T20 Twilight Premiership. At our Association’s Annual Presentation Night, Janaka Liyanabadalge from Noble Park won the Val Holten Medal for the best player in the First XI competition and Kirk Norton from Werribee Cricket Club was inducted into the VSDCA Hall of Fame. John Craig from Ormond Cricket Club was elevated as a ‘Legend’ of the VSDCA. Congratulations to all.
Spotswood Cricket Club celebrates winning the First XI East/West Group Premiership.
Partners
WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING PARTNERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT
27 1 | PREM I ER CRICKET AWARDS – SEASON 2022—23