NURIOOTPA’S Centennial Park will host a historic first this year, after it was confirmed last week the Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Stars would play a Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) game at the venue in November.
It will be the inaugural official Big Bash match played in regional South Australia, and it comes after the Strikers’ men had a successful internal pre-season trial at the ground last summer before starting their BBL08 campaign.
Nuriootpa Cricket Club committee member Brett Lydeamore said it’s a massive boost for the region.
“We see it as being a great opportunity to showcase cricket at the highest level in the Barossa,” he said.
“It’s a really good investment into the future of cricket in the region and especially for aspiring females.
“That’s an area that we want to improve in – really getting more girls in the region playing cricket.
“We have reached out to the Barossa & Light Cricket Association and they have been able to schedule a bye in all grades for the weekend of the game, so we would really be hoping to see a couple of thousand people out here.
“When we hosted the trial match with the men, we had close to 2000 people here and half of those would have been kids.
“That’s what it’s all about for us, getting kids involved.”
Work has begun on a new practice net facility at Centennial Park, with the Barossa Council, the South Australian Cricket Association, Cricket Australia and the Australia Cricketer’s Association assisting with funding through the Australian Cricket Infrastructure Fund.
“The association has done a lot of work in recent years in development of cricket in the regions, with the introduction of plenty of turf wickets,” Mr Lydeamore said.
“The nets project was something that we wanted to pursue in the next couple of years and (SACA) has enabled us to fast track those plans and commit to hosting this game.”
SACA chief executive Keith Bradshaw said he was thrilled that the Strikers are taking WBBL to the country.
“(It) aligns perfectly with the WBBL’s focus on family-friendly entertainment and a festival-style atmosphere,” he said.
“The Nuriootpa Cricket Club has a fantastic facility and their volunteers are working alongside SACA staff to ensure the ground and the surrounding facilities are at the required standard.
“I have no doubt that this will be a very successful event where we can engage country residents that may find it difficult to get to Karen Rolton Oval for our other home games.
“Our WBBL cricketers are such fantastic athletes and role models, so it will be exciting for Barossa kids to have the chance to get up close with their heroes.”