It’s always a very great pleasure to be involved in the Penrith Thunder Girls Cricket League. It’s extremely rewarding to see girls coming together to play cricket on a Friday night and to watch their skills and passion for the game grow over the course of the season.
Thunder Girls is a competition that brings together very experienced girls with girls who are just beginning what we hope will be a long and enjoyable association with our great game. It’s delightful to see just how quickly the rookies develop their skills; by the competition’s end, many are hitting some lovely shots through the field and bowling some terrific balls. For our senior and more experienced girls, it’s a wonderful opportunity to develop their leadership and mentoring skills and to share their love of the game. Regardless of the result in any given game, we can truly say that cricket is the winner every Friday night at Jamison Park.
In Season 2018-19, the Penrith Thunder Girls Cricket League was played across two short competitions, as it has been for the last couple of years – a Spring (Term 4) competition and a Summer (Term 1) competition.
In Spring, the competition featured four teams – two from Glenmore Park, one from Hawkesbury and a combined team from Glenbrook-Blaxland and Springwood. Six weeks of round robin games saw Hawkesbury go into the final undefeated, with Glenbrook-Blaxland/Springwood assuming underdog status. Indeed, in two years of playing Hawkesbury, Glenbrook-Blaxland had never managed to pull off a win. But the Mountains girls were undaunted by Hawkesbury’s mighty reputation. Having lost the toss and been sent in to bat, the Mountains girls proceeded to make the most of their 20 overs, putting 100 runs on the scoreboard without loss of wicket, and with every batter retiring not out. The girls followed up this powerhouse batting performance with a determined effort with the ball, restricting Hawkesbury to 4/61 off their 20.
Congratulations to Glenbrook-Blaxland/Springwood – Thunder Girls Cricket League Spring Premiers!
The Summer competition saw a slight drop in overall registrations, with two super teams taking the field each week – Glenbrook-Blaxland/Springwood and Glenmore Park. As a result, we devised a ‘development competition’, which was very successful in building skills, enthusiasm and friendships across the teams from both clubs.
The Thunder Girls Cricket League was successful in season 2018-19 because of the hard work and dedication of many people, both from within GBCC and from other clubs. From within GBCC, a very big thank you in particular to Jason Martin, who helped with warming up, umpiring, supporting the senior girls in learning to lead, and much more. We’re also grateful to Lachlan Steuart for making the time to get to games during the Summer competition. Thanks too to Max Raffan and Larisa Canvin for all their help at training. And we sincerely thank the parents, siblings, relatives and friends who supported their girls to play and brought great fun, positivity and camaraderie to the team every Friday night.
Annabel Batty – Player of the Year
AB had another wonderful season, amassing the team’s highest number of runs and several of its top scores. She added wicketkeeping to her skill set and was our go-to behind the stumps. She could also be relied upon to pick up wickets with the ball and did a wonderful job of welcoming and supporting our rookies.
Natalie Canvin – Bowler of the Year
Natalie was a fearsome sight as she steamed in this season, and her pace and accuracy resulted in the highest number of wickets for the team (10). Nat is also a fierce competitor in the field. Her returns to the stumps were legendary, and she took a match-winning catch in the Grand Final. One of our senior girls, Nat’s infectious love of the game was a key factor in our positive team culture.
Makayla Crouch – Most Promising Bowler
Makayla is a natural bowler – line, length and pace. In one of her first games and bowling to a strong leg-side batter, she took advice and then proceeded to bowl six dot balls in a row just outside off-stump – utterly remarkable! Maka also showed increasing confidence with the bat towards the end of the season and finished with a high score of 11no.
Lani Gleeson – Most Improved Batting
Lani is an all-round sportswoman, and her strength and natural hand-eye coordination helped with her stand-and-deliver batting style. She made several good contributions with the bat and finished with a high score of 13no. Lani was also lightning quick in the field and saved a lot of runs.
Samantha Haworth – Most Improved Bowling
Coming back for her third season, Sam really impressed with her increased game awareness, especially her running between wickets. And this season saw her bowling improve – her short run-up giving no indication to the batters about how hard she was going to be to face. Ball after ball just landing on a good length.
Lara Heyman – Most Promising Batter
Lara is definitely a name to watch in the future. She announced herself in a big way, smashing 16no in her debut innings and holding onto a good catch in the deep. Lara proved her first innings wasn’t a fluke, making several other good scores during the season. She also regularly troubled the batters with her fiery deliveries.
Hannah Jamieson – Most Improved Batting
It was no surprise to see Hannah’s all-round game improve this season. She worked hard at training and always gave her all in the games. It was great to see her working on her defence and increasing her range of shots. When Hannah hits a ball, it stays hit!
Alana Kenn – Most Promising All-rounder
Alana was another of our rookies and made valuable contributions in every aspect of the game. She could always be relied upon to chip in with some handy runs when the team needed it, and her bowling was accurate and hard to score from.
Natasha Martin – All-rounder of the Year
Tash once again brought high-powered performances with both bat and ball to every game. Her bowling was particularly noteworthy this season, characterised both by pace and deadly accuracy. Her figures of 2/2 in the Grand Final were a vital factor in securing victory for the team. A natural and respected leader, Tash played a key role in mentoring our new girls this season.
Leah Minton – Rising Star
Leah was one of our Spring rookies and made huge improvements as the season progressed. She’s a fast learner and impressed the other girls with her can-do attitude. Leah put in some gutsy performances with the bat against experienced bowlers, and her own bowling found the opposition players struggling to connect. We missed Leah in the Summer competition, but very much hope to see her back next Spring.
Tjakura Raffan – Crowd Favourite
A new recruit in our Summer competition, TJ quickly established herself as the team’s ‘little sister’. Her dedication to developing her skills was obvious, and she showed incredible improvement. Her growing game awareness was evident when, in one of the last games, she strode out to the wicket and seemed to go to the wrong end. But no, as she informed Craig, she was just going to confer with her batting partner!
Sukhamrit Sandhu – Most Improved Bowling
One of our Summer rookies, Am was keen to learn and she made rapid strides forward, particularly with her bowling. Coming off a short run-up, she often fooled the batters with her looping deliveries and was quickly able to achieve good consistency down the pitch. With the bat, Am showed a lot of promise playing straight to the faster bowlers.
Briony White – Most Improved All-rounder
A key recruit in the Summer competition, Briony quickly showed she knows her way around a cricket pitch. Her fluid and elegant bowling style disguised the sting of her deliveries. With the bat, she was able to punish any loose deliveries, particularly on the legside. And she combined beautifully with other batters for some great running between the wickets.
Craig Batty
Coach
Catherine Pratt
Manager
The GBCC Chronicle 