World Cup Education Program

The ICC Women's World Cup Education Program aims to promote the game of cricket to boys and girl across Australia through schools.

This free of charge resource provides very detailed lesson plans for 5 different lessons that cover team work and other good attitudes to have when working in a group. The lessons also cover various learning areas such as English, Society and Environment and Science to name a few.

There is also a Teacher Section to help bring the best out for each lesson and other resources such as the 2009 Tournament Fixture, history of the game and players information.

As a teacher myself I think I will find this resource quite valuable and also alot of fun to implement.

All the main resources are on the page in PDF format so it doesn't matter where in the world you are you may be able to use this too.

Any school in Australia can apply for this package so get cracking while there are still some available!

Player Profile - Cri-Zelda Brits

Cri-Zelda Brits was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal in South Africa. At 25 years old she is currently the captain of the South African women's team.

She began her Test and ODI debut for her country in 2002 against India on her home soil. She only began as a bowler but is now currently opening the batting and bowling for her country. Her first Test produced bowling figures of 2 for 91 off 35 overs with 7 maidens.
Cri-Zelda unfortunately only bowled 2 overs in her ODI debut however her persistence paid off when she bowled a career best 4 for 37.

Her right arm fast bowling is not to be out done by her batting arm either. After 38 ODI's under her belt she has an average of 29.24 with a highest score of 107 not out.
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She began captining her side in 2007 when team mate (and current captain at the time) Shandre Fritz was injured for a ODI against Pakistan. This would turn out to be a good move for the team as she lead them to a 4-0 victory over Pakistan and subsequently a 3-0 win over the Netherlands.

Cri-Zelda has many hobbies and during a recent inverview for gSport she told us that she still plays hockey for her Rustenburg team and enjoys watching rugby and atheletics. Out of her professional sport life she is a Sales Executive and tries to keep a healthly lifestlye between sport play and rest.

Cri-Zelda states that her two favourite players are Brett Lee for his control and Ricky Ponting for his ability to lead a side.

With regards to women's cricket in South Africa she would like to see girls being encouraged to play at all young year levels as seen in Australia with the MILO in2 Cricket program. She believes that this will help produce a wider talent of cricketers.

Her ambition is to win a World Cup and with her current form and positive outlook of her team, she may just get her wish.

Sydney Double Header

Australias cousins from over the ditch are coming to Sydney to play a T20 match before the men play on Sunday the 15th of Febuary.

The double header is the second of its kind, the first of which was done at the MCG earlier this year.

Tickets are on sale now at Ticketek.

This match is vitally important for both sides as they make their preparations for the ICC World Cup in March and this will indeed be the last game for the Southern Stars and White Ferns before the important ICC World Cup begins.

You could almost say that this will be a 'litmus test' for the sucess or failure of the promotion of the Womens game done by Cricket Australia.

The ICC moves forward progressively

Sydney was the venue of choice for the ICC to celebrate 100 years of cricket from the organisation.

On the 2nd of January two current players in Isa Guha and Holly Colvin from the English camp and Lisa Sthalekar from the Australian side helped the preceedings move along with ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.


Lorgat talked mainly about the challenges that faced International cricket such as the balancing of formats, player work loads and corruption however he was optimistic for the future of cricket in the next 100 years.

He is right, with the current schedule out for this year there are many games to look forward to across the globe and it would seem that women's cricket is expanding, which is great for the game as a whole.

Player Profile - Ellyse Perry

Ellyse Perry, the rookie for Australia who has burst onto the international stage at the age of 17. Haven't heard of her? Shame on you.
Born in Wahroonga, Sydney in 1990 she was the youngest player to play for her country and this began in 2008 in Darwin at the Rose Bowl competition.

Her genuine all round abilities made her an ideal candidate to slide into the side once Cathryn Fitzpatrick, the fast bowler, departed the Southern Stars.

She began her cricket career whilst playing backyard cricket with her brother Damien. Perry admits to being a bit like a tom boy and this has held her in good stead as she is the national representative for not only cricket but Women's Soccer.The New South Wales Breakers happily snapped up this wunderkind cricketer and it was not long before she made her debut for Australia.

Perry has had quite a year in 2008. Her best bowling figures in the T20 are 4/20 and batting include a high score of 51 in an ODI.
I have two videos featured here, the first is the Southern Stars taking on the English girls. This may be the first time you see highlights of a women's cricket match so be prepared, it's totally awesome!



As you can see it really did turn into the Ellyse Perry show at the end, what a talent.

The second video is provided by Moses over at http://beerandsport.net and shows highlights of Ellyse Perry helping the Southern Stars take on the poms, with an interview at the end!



With Perry bowling at a decent 115-120 kmph speed, batting like Symonds on red cordial and reacting as quickly as Gilly after sniffing paint this player surely is a big advantage to the Australian side, let us hope she chooses to follow the path of the red leather ball and not a soccer career.

The 12th Man Competition

The 12th Man competition is giving a great prize pack to a very lucky girl aged between 7 and 14 years old.

The competiton is running in conjunction with the upcoming Rose Bowl series to be played in New Zealand against Australia this Feburary.

One lucky female child will be able to hang out with the White Ferns on match day and will also recieve a White Ferns shirt, cap, photo with the team and an autographed bat amongst many other cool prizes.

It's a shame i'm male, well over the age limit of 14 years old, and not in the right country as this is one hell of a prize pack.

Check out the competition here.

Best of luck to those who go into the draw.

30 Player Squad Selected for the Southern Stars

Cricket Australia's Women's National Selection Panel has recently decided on the 30 player squad it will use to craft the downfall of 7 other nations and claim the ICC Women's World Cup Trophy.

Here is the list:

Sarah Andrews NSW
Alex Blackwell NSW
Kate Blackwell NSW
Melissa Bulow QLD
Kris Britt SA
Jessica Cameron VIC
Renee Chappell WA
Leonie Coleman NSW
Lauren Ebsary WA
Sarah Edwards VIC
Rene Farrell WA
Jodie Fields QLD
Corinne Hall NSW
Rachel Haynes VIC
Alyssa Healy NSW
Jessica Jonassen QLD
Delissa Kimmince QLD
Shelley Nitschke SA
Erin Osborne NSW
Ellyse Perry NSW
Kirsten Pike QLD
Leah Poulton NSW
Karen Rolton SA
Emma Sampson SA
Clea Smith VIC
Lisa Sthalekar NSW
Selina Tainton QLD
Jo-Ann Verrall QLD
Elyse Villani VIC
Julie Woerner SA

Marg Jennings, chairperson of the WNSP, states: "We have taken the opportunity to include several young players who have the potential to play international cricket for Australia."

These women will be scrutinised by the WNSP during their playing time for their state and recent overseas matches.

A 15 person squad will be announced late in January for preperation for the Sydney match of the Southern Stars vs the White Ferns.

Ground Profile: Bradman Oval, NSW

With the ICC Women's World Cup being only 2 months away now I have decided to take a look at the grounds the players will be playing on.

The first ground I have chosen is the Bradman Oval in Bowral.
Located around 100 kms South-West of Sydney nestelled in the suburb where the great Don Bradman played one his first games of cricket and near to where he grew up is the Bradman Oval.

View Larger Map

A 3D view of Bradman Oval shows the essence of a country side England with cottage styled houses minus the lousy weather.

This venue will be used during the group stages but not for the Super Six Stage. More information on the Super Six Stage to come in the week.

If you do wish to go to the Oval and watch a game make sure you bring a rug or chairs as these aren't provided, however with the $5 admission fee you surely can't expect too much.

The ground previously held 5000 people during a match between Aussies and the English team earlier this year so best get there early to get a good viewing spot.

It is great to see such a historic though little known venue being used for such a big occasion in the cricketing world, and you never know, maybe the Bowral aura that touched Bradman may influence some of our female cricketers too.

The Cricket Society Awards 2008

Anya Shrubsole from Bath, Somerset has recently won the Eversheds Most Promising Young Cricketer's Award in 2008 from The Cricket Society.

Anya Shrubsole dismissing Alicia Smith opener

The right arm medium fast bowler started her international career in stellar form by taking 3 wickets for 19 runs in 4 overs in her first NatWest T20 ODI for England agaisnt the formidable South Africa, helping her side to victory.

Anya said on recieving her award that she is looking forward to keeping her good performances up and inparticular wants to bring the ICC Women's World Cup back home to England when they tour Australia in March.

She has recently been named in England's 15 person squad for the World Cup and at the bright young age of 17, let us hope she has alot of good cricket infront of her.

Promoting the World Cup gone topsy turvy.

Whilst reading the Sydney Morning Herald on the 6th of January 2009 it came to my attention an article regarding the promotion of Women's Cricket for the upcoming ICC World Cup to be held in NSW. The article by Jessica Halloran talks about the lengths the Cricket Australia is going to, to promote the game and to get the crowds in to watch the game.

However in a suprising move, Cricket Australia and Ticketek are not promoting the game on the tickets they sell to the public for the Mens game. When you purchase a ticket for the Aussies v Black Caps at Sydney on the 15th of Feb you will not be told that you can gain entry to the ground for the Women's game (Aussie v White Ferns) before the men play.

Peter Young from Cricket Australia is quoted as saying: "It's as effective as winking at a girl in the dark. Promoting it on the ticket is not going to win hearts and minds."

It may not win hearts and minds but at least it will be informative, and if you want to see more cricket than what's on offer you may just go. Instead the girls will play their game to a very small crowd and only will get an audience when people start coming early for the men's game, probably with only 30 minutes to go.

The new Aussie ambassadors were also out on the ground during lunch on the first day of the men's 3rd test between Australia and South Africa to promote the upcoming World Cup to the public, although most people seemed to be more interested in the hoons on the boundary causing a scene. Terrible.

Finally the promotion team have turned to look alikes for the girls, trying to get people interested in what they look like rather than how they play.

This image from the Sydney Morning Herald shows Kate Blackwell looking like Renee Zellweger, Ellyse Perry looking like Lori Singer, Lisa Sthalekar looking like Salma Hayek and finally Kirsten Pike looking like our Princess Mary.

Let us hope that all these efforts produce bums on seats come March.