Thirty-five cricket players from W/BBL clubs Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder, and NSW Blues and Breakers, will travel far and wide across Country NSW towns to meet our state’s youngest cricketers and cricket lovers with one mission: to inspire everyone to play and love cricket.
State’s cricket stars to blitz through Country NSW this August
The Country Blitz, Cricket NSW’s amazing annual regional engagement tour, will see players from the two Sydney clubs and the state’s premier cricket teams travel to schools and cricket grounds in communities across the State.
This year, on August 22 and 23, the 35 players are set to visit 12 Country NSW regions to meet children from over 40 schools in 37 towns, participate in 15 come-and-try days and cricket clinics across these regions and also attend 20 meet and greet events, which include media opportunities, and spending time with our wonderful volunteers.
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The tour ties in with Play Cricket Week that is being celebrated across Australia during the week, to mark the launch of the 2024/25 cricket season, encouraging Australians to play #cricketanywhere.
During the Country Blitz tour, there are Beach Blasts scheduled along our coastal towns, such as one on Nobbys Beach in Newcastle and Terrigal on the Central Coast, while our state’s inland towns are organising Cricket Blast events and junior cricket matches where NSW’s youngest players will be able to play with their heroes and get an understanding of the game from the best in the sport.
This year, a few of the players are visiting their old schools to inspire the children of their alma mater to play and love cricket. Breakers’ star Ebony Hoskin is scheduled to go to her primary school in Howlong, while Thunder wicketkeeper Matt Gilkes will visit his high school, Ulladulla High, in Shoalhaven. Breakers’ bowler Sammy-Jo Johnson will travel north and revisit the Blue Hills College in Goonellabah, that she’s an ex-student of. Newcastle, meanwhile, is eagerly waiting for local girl Sienna Eve, who is a new member of the Breakers Squad.
Included amongst the players visiting the 12 regional areas are 20 Sydney Sixers and Thunder representatives such as Thunder’s Hannah Darlington and Tanveer Sangha, Sixers captain Moises Henriques, and others, along with 15 of NSW cricket’s rising stars such as Elsa Hunter and Lauren Kua.
The players visiting the Far North, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Kurtis Patterson and Tahlia Wilson, will also participate in an Indigenous cricket clinic organised by the Cricket NSW Foundation, the charitable arm of Cricket NSW, at Coraki on August 22.
Cricket NSW’s Chief Community Cricket Officer, Martin Gleeson, said Country Blitz is one of the most exciting times of the cricket pre-season each year. Gleeson said:
“Country areas of NSW represent the heart and soul of the sport. Many of our elite players began their cricket journey in Country NSW and the Country Blitz provides a great opportunity for our players to support Country communities as they gear up the season.
The Country Blitz activities put players in the community to inspire children to play the game, help clubs with their recruitment for the coming season and to meet and thank the many volunteers who are integral to the game’s success locally.
“Through the Country Blitz, we want to inspire children living in regional NSW to pick up a bat and ball. Cricket is the lifeblood of Australia’s great sporting tradition, and through our efforts, Cricket NSW aims to help our children enjoy, love and learn the game.”