Over the winter the Women’s and Girls Advisory group or WAGS with Christchurch Metro Cricket, Christchurch Junior Cricket Association and consultation from NZC and Canterbury Cricket has lead to some important changes to girls and women’s cricket pathway for the coming season. I’d like to thank our CJCA board member Theresa Buller, WAGs representative Mark Pringle and Kelvin McKissock, and to Cat Quinn on their tireless work on this area.
The changes have been made to re-align the grade structure and playing conditions to fit in with ‘age and stage’ frameworks and to try and keep girls in the game. One of the changes is a renaming of the grades to divisions to help with a simplified pathway. You can read more about this here: https://www.cjca.org.nz/girls/
One of the grades where there are a lot of changes is the U16 grade – now called the Division 2 grade which which will have reduced pitch length of 18m. This is going to complicate playing on grass on some grounds, especially considering an afternoon 20m (standard pitch length) match is being played on the same strip in the afternoon – so at Burnside Park we are looking into this.
Key Division 2 rules to note;
- 18m pitch
- 9 players per team
- 25 overs per innings
- Batters retire at 35 balls
- 4 overs max per bowler maximum
- 5 consecutive overs to be bowled at each end
- 3 ball grace period (5 runs lost and can’t return if you go on to retire at 35 balls)
- Energy Boost in the final two overs of each innings. In the first innings, opening batters from the fielding team leave the field and get ready to bat. In the second innings two players leave the field for the final two overs
This grade is designed for players in the Year 9-10 age group and we would strongly encourage Year 8 players to be playing in Division 3 (Y7-8 CJCA Cricket). However, with the pitch lengths and playing regulations between Div 2 and Div 3 aligning, there is the scope for Year 8’s to play Division 2 from time to time as fill-ins for example during holidays or bye weeks.
I am sure that these changes are well thought and with every change it will some affect on other components and grades – but if we can keep girls in the game for longer it can only be a positive change – if you have any questions please speak to Helen, Shane, Mark or your team manager.
North-West Women's Cricket 