Cricket: Junior cricket club booming

Taieri Sparkles player Jemma Wilson pulls a ball towards the boundary during a match at Memorial...
Taieri Sparkles player Jemma Wilson pulls a ball towards the boundary during a match at Memorial Park last season. Photo supplied.
Junior cricket registrations open this weekend and the Taieri Junior Cricket Club is poised for another bumper season.

Last season the club had more than 150 registered players in 15 teams - including two in the premier competition - making it one of the strongest clubs in Dunedin junior cricket.

Club president Donna Burns expects similar numbers will register this year.

Pre-season training had already started for some players but Mrs Burns said there were plenty of spots available across all grades for intending players.

Last season the club established a training programme which resulted in Taieri doubling its representation in Dunedin Metropolitan representative junior cricket teams, with 22 players selected across various age grades.

Taieri also broke new ground last year in fielding an all-girl team - The Taieri Sparkles - which played in section three.

The team was the club's - and possibly Dunedin junior cricket's - first all-girl team. Mrs Burns hopes the club can again enter an all-girl team.

''We may have the next Suzie Bates coming through,'' she said.

A new cricket league for year 3 and 4 cricketers would also be trialled at Brooklands Park this season in conjunction with Dunedin Cricket.

Superstar Cricket is an entry level game designed to help children learn cricket basics.

The games, to be played on Tuesday afternoons by years 3 and 4 children, take less than an hour to play.

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