STRONG SEASON: The Ōtorohanga Girls’ cricket team coached by Fiona Parsons has shown some impressive signs in 2022. Photo supplied
IT’S been raining wickets and boundaries for the Ōtorohanga College girls’ cricket team this season. The girls’ cricket has had a successful term during times when many schools are struggling to get girls teams on the pitch. Ōtorohanga College teacher Fiona Parsons has enjoyed helping out with the side and is looking forward to seeing them out on the pitch in 2023. Led by captain Molly Fox, who has recently been selected in the Northern Districts U19 team, the girls started the season strongly with two convincing wins over St Peter’s and Cambridge High Schools. In both games Ōtorohanga was able to bowl the opposition out quickly with St Peter’s scoring 30 runs and Cambridge 45 runs in total. One of the team’s highlights came against St Peter’s when the accurate bowling of Year 13 student Olivia Kurth knocked over the opposition’s top order to snare an impressive hattrick, something not often achieved in cricket. The season finished with a tough game against a very experienced Rototuna team, however, the girls showed much improvement in being able to face much quicker bowlers. A couple of games were also rained out, leaving the team a bit short of fixtures. Another positive this season was seeing new players taking up the game, with Holly Church and Sophie Pereira bringing their strength, fielding, and big hitting softball skills to the game. They will definitely be ones to watch next season. With the experience of Laura Hunt and Kiera Mansell sharing the wicket-keeping duties and juniors Katie Raine, Lylah Andrew and Pani Fowler Wickliffe continuing to gain confidence in batting and bowling, the team is in good hands as it looks towards next year’s competition. Some of the girls even helped the boys’ team out on at least one occasion, showing their talents with both bat and ball. Molly’s Northern Districts selection shows that girls’ can make professional cricket from a small town.
