With the season fast approaching, we thought it was the appropriate time to update you on the exciting plans we have in place for the coming season. In addition to his role as the Head Coach of the Sparks, Craig Cumming will now oversee the Performance Pathway for the Female game. Craig is passionate about the female game and with him in this role the wider community will be able to benefit from his expertise. A big focus for Otago Cricket this season is creating programmes that allow our players to have more playing opportunity.

Otago Sparks

As many would have seen, the Otago Sparks contracts were released on Friday the 18th of August. The women’s Domestic game has shown a lot of growth over the last twelve months, with the number of contracts being increased this season to 13 (previously 12). Congratulations to all of our contracted players, particularly our three newly contracted players; Chloe Deerness, Louisa Kotkamp, and PJ Watkins! It’s very rewarding to see Chloe (Dunedin) and Louisa (Southland) awarded contracts as they have been a part of our pathway system. We are looking forward to welcoming PJ to Otago. PJ has grown up and played in the UK but has committed to Otago Cricket with the hope of becoming a WHITEFERN in the future.

Under 19 Women Coaching Staff

Emma Campbell will again be the Otago U19 Women’s Head Coach for the coming season. Emma coached the team for the first time last year and is looking forward to building on her experience and continuing the development of the players. Former BLACKCAP & Otago Volt Shayne O'Connor will also have involvement in the team.

Emerging Sparks

Helping bridge the gap between the Otago U19 Women and the Otago Sparks, the Emerging Sparks programme has been running for six weeks (led by Craig Cumming & Shawn Hicks). The players that have been selected for this programme are; Abby Fookes, Jordan Meltzer, Hannah O’Connor, Isy Parry, Angelique Peyroux, Caitlin Scherp, and Hannah E Wilson.

District Extension Programmes

This season our four District Associations have implemented District Extension Programmes for both female and male players. The focus of these programmes is to develop younger players from throughout Otago & Southland with a vision for creating more Sparks and Emerging players for the future.

Otago U17 team to National Palmerston North Tournament

Otago Cricket are pleased to announce that for the first time we will be sending an Otago U17 Girls team to the U17 Development Tournament run by Central Districts in January. This tournament includes Auckland, Northern Districts, Central Districts, Wellington and now Otago. This is a great opportunity for some of our younger female players to experience more challenging cricket and start our development process earlier than we have in the past. Selection for this team will come through our Community Tournaments & Festivals along with the District Extension Programmes.

Dunedin Cricket Female League Changes

An exciting change this season to the Dunedin Cricket Female League is the allocation of the four teams to our Dunedin Senior Clubs. The clubs are excited to work together to help support both divisions of the competition. This change will allow the competition to be more sustainable and provide a platform for future growth. Registrations for season 2 of the Female League will open on the 1st of September.

Women & Girls Week

This year, Otago Cricket’s annual Women & Girls week will take place from Monday 27th November to Sunday 3rd December! There will be exciting events throughout the week all over Otago & Southland, finishing with the WHITEFERNS T20 game in Dunedin on Sunday.

We look forward to seeing everyone out on the cricket field in the warmer weather!

Article added: Tuesday 29 August 2023