News Alert |

- Mayor Samantha McIntosh

You may not be aware of this, but women’s cricket has been around for centuries.

In fact, search online and you’ll find plenty of stories about a woman inventing the roundarm bowl.

It appears we have Christina Willes to thank for the way cricket is played today, some might say without her the game of cricket may still have been played with an underarm bowl to this day.

Fast forward to 19th century Tasmania where a determined Lily Poulett-Harris formed one of the first women’s cricket teams in Australia.

Lily most definitely inspired many women to take up the sport.

Women’s cricket has evolved ever since.

Today we’re seeing more and more young females taking up the sport in our own home town. And for the first time, female cricket has never been more accessible in Ballarat.

But what is even more exciting for our local female cricketers is the announcement Ballarat will host the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in December.

The arrival of WBBL is such a positive step forward for our city and for the growing number of women and girls choosing to play cricket in Ballarat.

Our growing number of female competitors will no longer have to look far for inspiration with a very impressive line-up of players heading to our region this December.

It also strongly aligns with our recently adopted Active Women and Girls’ Strategy which was developed to create more equitable opportunities for female participation in sport.

The sport and recreation sector have a positive role to play in changing the current climate around women and girls participation in sport, and it’s high-profile events such as WBBL which play an important role in supporting gender equity, re-shaping stereotypes and empowering women and girls to take up sport.

We look forward to working with the Melbourne Renegades to bring WBBL to Ballarat in December for what we hope is only the beginning of more regular WBBL matches being played in our wonderful female and cricket-friendly city.

Additional quotes attributable to Melbourne Renegades CEO Stuart Coventry:

“This is going to be the biggest season in the WBBL and we’re thrilled Ballarat will be a part of it.

“We look forward to working closely with the City of Ballarat to deliver this exciting event for the local community.

“We’re really keen to grow the Victorian footprint of our club and taking an official fixture to Ballarat is an important step in that process.”