Around 70 boys and girls from across the Central and Far West attended the program, travelling from areas as far as Wellington, Bathurst and Gulargambone. They were met by Breakers stars Hannah Darlington and Anika Learoyd, and Indigenous cricket star Andrew Gordon and came out truly inspired from the experience.
The pathway program was created to inspire Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth to truly engage in cricket via the rich sporting and cultural experiences. Cricket NSW Foundation is committed to ensuring such experiences across regional NSW and seeks an increased representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth to offer them the opportunities to continue playing the game.
CNSW Foundation will be delivering similar programs in Sydney and Newcastle in March.
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Wiradjuri boy Jakay Read said hearing from Indigenous players Hannah Darlington and Anika Learoyd has inspired him to pursue the sport.
"It has been pretty mad having a bowl with a few mates, I've enjoyed getting into cricket. It is something I would like to do, becoming the next Mitch Starc or Pat Cummins."
As a Gumbaynggirr woman, Anika Learoyd said she was hoping to encourage the next generation of Indigenous cricketers like Ash Gardner and Scott Boland.
"It is absolutely phenomenal because you really can't be what you can't see, so to have the likes of Ash and Scotty up there playing for Australia is pretty exciting," Learoyd said.
"These kids are now able to see people who have been there and done that from shoes pretty similar to their own, it doesn't seem as far out of reach as it may have once."
Darlington said cricket must be made more accessible to grow the game in Indigenous communities. “Seeing the number of kids that are loving the sport out in these rural areas is pretty exciting. "We are really good at making bins as stumps, garages as auto wickets and all these rules that come into the beauty of backyard cricket," she said.
"But as soon as you want to take that next step towards becoming a cricketer, it is a bit difficult to get that access to a cricket kit and all the facilities you need."
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Andrew Gordon said creating an environment for Indigenous players to flourish was crucial. "If we are going to create the future Ash Gardners and Scott Bolands of the world, they are going to be able to take from their experience of how they got there, but learn from their own journey," he said.
"It is a big thing knowing where you have come from and where you are going to."
Jake Balnave, Head of the Cricket NSW Foundation, said: “It was absolutely amazing to see 70 boys and girls from across the Central and Far West come together in Orange to enjoy, for some of them their first experience of cricket and for others, to learn from some amazing role models we have in our sport.
“The CNSW Foundation is so proud to be funding this program to further enable access to cricket for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from across NSW. We know that cricket brings people and communities together and we were so pleased to hear feedback on the program helped the participants connect to heir mob, make friends with other Indigenous students from across the region and enjoy a fun day of cricket.”