Jersey Cricket Board plans indoor cricket league for girls in school

Jersey Evening Post reported. This is a bid by the board to provide a pathway between grassroots and top-tier cricket for the women. The competition is a six-a-side affair with the matches to start from November 5.

“By providing them with opportunities during the colder months we hope we won’t have a drop off in participation,” said Lee Meloy, the development manager of Jersey Cricket Board.

“We currently have good numbers at the very introductory stage of cricket but we need to bridge that gap to the more elite level cricket by providing girls with the chance to improve their technical skills.”

The competition will be in a round-robin format during winter, helping girls learn the technical aspects of the match. It will extend for six weeks with matches played every Thursday evening.

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“Incrediball lies between a tennis ball and a hard cricket ball,” explained Meloy about the type of the ball.

“Children from a young age tend to play with tennis balls and the Incrediball allows them to grow in confidence to eventually move onto a hard ball which can be daunting when you are young. We will be using bats and gloves only, helmets are not introduced until later on in their development.”

Meloy said that introducing and educating girls about the sport is the primary motive behind the tournament, with an aim to developing club level cricket for women.

“Not everyone is going to want to make that jump to playing for Jersey but we want to make cricket accessible for everyone and if we had multiple ladies clubs playing each other throughout the season then people could enjoy cricket for every purpose whether that be just for fun or to hone their skills and make that jump up to the women’s Island side,” he concluded.