In 2022, Condobolin junior athletes were part of over 120 Woolworths Cricket Blast participants from regional NSW and the ACT featured in the much anticipated Commonwealth Bank Women’s Ashes Test Match at Manuka Oval in Canberra.
Junior Blasters (five to seven year olds) and Master Blasters (seven to 10 year olds), representing a total of 14 junior cricket associations and clubs featured during the Woolworths Lunch Break Experience, which provides junior cricketers with the opportunity to participate in cricket-related activities on the same turf as their cricketing heroes on Friday, 28 January 2022.
In addition to the Woolworths Lunch Break Experience, Queanbeyan Junior Cricket Club were also selected to be the flagbearers throughout the Test Match holding the Australian and England flags.
Cricket NSW CEO Lee Germon said the impact of the Woolworths Lunch Break Experience on those who get the opportunity to participate can’t be underestimated.
“At Cricket NSW we strive to inspire people of all ages and abilities to play and love cricket through engaging programs such as the highly popular Woolworths Cricket Blast, and thanks to both Cricket Australia and Woolworths, we are able to make some dreams come true through this unique experience,” he explained.
“For these junior cricketers to attend a Women’s Ashes Test Match and witness the world’s best in-person, and then be able to play cricket on the same turf as them in front of thousands of fans, it’s the type of experience that will resonate with them for a lifetime.
“The NSW Cricket Pathway has a very proud and successful tradition of producing cricketers for the Australian women’s and men’s national teams, and here’s hoping many of the junior cricketers we see during this Women’s Ashes Test Match at Manuka Oval are wearing the Baggy Blue or Baggy Green in the future.”