Page 42 - WPHCC 2023-2024 Cricket Season Yearbook

Girls Teams Reports Stage 1 - Harris
This is a brand-new team of girls in the newly formed girls’ competition in the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai & Hills District Cricket Association played on Friday evenings under lights. All the girls were new to Team Harris, and most had little to no playing experience before joining the team. Each of the girls in Team Harris and the teams we played each week, played in the spirit of Cricket, with the full support of their family and friends at training and on game day.
Both on and off the field the girls enjoyed each other's company whilst playing cricket together.
There was a marked improvement in the skill level of the team, which led to some great scores and some individual brilliance. The team persevered all season by playing against teams that were much older and physically bigger too, and to their credit turned up every week and played to win a match. All the teams we played against had girls who had been playing for at least 4 or more years and when necessary, they batted a little lighter in their shots and bowled slower to allow our girls to feel less intimidated with such an age gap.
Emilia Black (8yo) – Miss Mili is a great team player and always makes sure everyone is feeling good, and if anyone is injured Mili is there to help and encourage. The season started slowly for Mili as she got used to team play and the concept of 20 overs per side. By season end Mili had improved her batting, and her confidence grew with each visit to the crease with a total of 20 runs for the season. Mili, with her very unorthodox bowling action, progressed well and managed 2 wickets.
Kiara Chadha (7yo) – Miss Smiley Face, Kiara is the most determined of all the girls. Kiara always had her game face on when batting and bowling, and it was backed up by her consistent effort with the bat scoring 14 runs. Kiara struggled early on with her bowling but with a few tips on her approach and action, she picked up things and ended up with a few wickets for her efforts.
Sahana Jairaj (8yo) – Miss Sahana had a very consistent season overall with her batting improving with some very good stroke play, with 19 runs scored. Sahana has a very good action already and can swing the ball when on target which is awesome to see from behind the stumps. Only 4 wickets for the season, however, so many near misses do not reflect the really good bowling action Sahana has at a young age.
Aleisha Nair (8yo) – Miss Aleisha had a very good first season having no experience with cricket or having seen a match before starting with Team Harris. Aleisha worked very hard at training with her batting and bowling, and it flowed into the games. Aleisha scored 29 runs and with her methodical approach to her bowling, Aleisha managed 5 wickets.
Emily Fuller (9yo) – Miss Emily was our quiet achiever. With her cheeky smile, she worked hard on her batting and bowling. Like most of the girls, finding her way with the batting pads will come with time. Emily did well with her batting, getting consistent strikes of the ball with her bat and scoring 18 runs. Emily was another player being very methodical in her approach to her bowling and ended up with 5 wickets.
Emily Whiting (9yo) – By far and away our best player due to her having played for a couple of seasons and having older brothers who play cricket. Batting with intent and always trying to find runs, bowling both leg spin and medium pace to mix things up for the opposing batters. Each week Emily showed great cricket awareness with the bat and ball, backing those skills up in the field having a very strong throwing arm, and successfully running out many batters with direct hits to the stumps. This also made the fielding drill at practice fun for the coach.
Eleanor O'Byrne (10yo) – Joined the team with 5 rounds to go for the season and was welcomed with open arms by the team. Eleanor is very new to cricket and keen to play rather than participate in Junior