Former Australian cricketer Karen Price inducted as Cricket NSW Life Member

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Former Australian cricketer Karen Price inducted as Cricket NSW Life Member

Karen Price (L) with Cricket NSW Chairman John Knox. © cricketnsw.com.au

st Life Member of Cricket NSW.

An allrounder, Price represented Australia in eight Tests ad 16 ODIs between 1975 and 1986. Post-retirement she served for the betterment of women's cricket at coaching, administration and as a researcher at the Bradman Museum in Bowral as part of the Women’s Heritage Council.

One of the pioneers of Australian women’s cricket, Price’s international career included a Test ton and career-best figures of 6 for 72 against India. She was the vice-captain of Australia in 1984. Price, whose first club was Mirrabooka, represented the NSW state schoolgirls’ team in 1969-70 before becoming a regular member of the NSW at U-21 and U-25 sides. She also captained her U-21 state side.

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At the senior level, Price played 25 matches for NSW at the state team Australian Championships from 1972-73 to 1976-77 and 1983-84 to 1986-87, picking up 58 wickets with the figures of 7 for 22 her best. She also played men’s cricket with Normanhurst Cricket Club in 1977-78 and 1982-83.

“I love cricket and you don’t volunteer for what you get at the end, you volunteer because you enjoy what you’re doing and because you love the sport, or the organisation, or whatever you volunteer for,” said Price. “I missed not being able to play, doing all these things it allows you stay in touch with the sport. It allows you stay in touch with the friends that you’ve made."

However, she regrets her father, who passed away when she was only 16, couldn’t see her play for NSW or for Australia. “The one thing I regret about it all is my Dad was the one that got me into cricket, but he died when I was 16. He actually never got to see me play for NSW or for Australia,” she said.

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“In thanking people, you’ve just got to thank all those people who are running cricket when I first started playing, in the late 1960s, early 1970s, who had no money, there was no money, there was nothing, but they did what they needed to do to be able to offer the game to people.

“I still remember some of the people who were in my first club, Mirrabooka, and I’ve got to thank those people because without them we wouldn’t be where we are today,” added Price.

After retiring from the game, Price became the first National Development Officer to the Australia Women’s Cricket Council and also assisted with the coaching of U-18 and U-21 NSW female developmental squads in the mid-1980s.

Price also served various administrative positions with her clubs Gordon and Normanhurst, the Sydney Women’s Cricket Association and NSW Women’s Cricket Association. She has received the Australian Centenary Medal for services to Women's cricket and ‘Appreciation Award’ for services to the NSW Women's Cricket Association.

“We could never have imagined it,” Price said about the record-breaking T20 World Cup final attendance at MCG. “I played in India and we played in front of crowds in India, but you would never have thought in Australia that you would get a crowd like that. It was just sensational.”
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