On the morning of August 22, a large procession of cars and other vehicles made their way to the historic Bargoed House at Swansea, near Newcastle. An entry code, provided earlier to those attending, helped you past the gates to the exclusive event at the vast estate, while the setting, with banners and flags everywhere and the beautiful backdrop of Lake Macquarie, couldn’t be more perfect.
BBL stars, Blues and Breakers light up Country Blitz
All eyes that morning were on Sienna Eve, NSW women’s cricket’s wunderkind. Eve, who had been signed on as a NSW Breaker earlier this year, was announced as Sydney Thunder’s latest team member, all the while, Newcastle’s Eve was going back to where it all started. Over 40 children, and the attendance of five other prominent NSW cricketers, including now-teammate, Thunder’s Hannah Darlington, made it special.
Every year, the Country Blitz, that brought Eve back to Newcastle last week, is Cricket NSW’s bid to inspire children to play and love cricket. This year, children and cricket lovers across NSW got to meet their cricketing heroes on August 22 and 23 when 35 cricket stars from Sydney Sixers, Sydney Thunder, NSW Blues and Breakers teams travelled to Country NSW towns to meet them as part of the regional engagement tour.
Registrations for all ages are currently open in clubs across NSW. Find your nearest opportunity to play cricket here.
All up, the players visited over 40 schools in 37 towns, participated in 15 come-and-try days and cricket clinics, and attended 20 meet and greet events in the span of two days. The tour tied in with Play Cricket Week that was being celebrated across Australia, to mark the launch of the 2024/25 cricket season, encouraging Australians to play #cricketanywhere.
In the spirit of cricket anywhere, there was cricket being played by children as young as five with some of NSW cricket’s most decorated players on sunny beaches, bushland parks, and even roadside pit stops. This year, six of the 35 cricketers visited their old hometowns and some even their old schools, causing quite a stir among students and local media alike.
Illawarra was excited to have Oak Flats’ Blake Nikitaras visiting, more so as Country Blitz returned to the region after a gap last year. Further to the southwest, Breakers star Ebony Hoskin visited her primary school in Howlong. Breakers and Thunder bowler, Lismore’s Sammy-Jo Johnson, went far north to revisit her alma mater, Blue Hills College in Goonellabah.
Thunder player Matt Gilkes revved up the South Coast with a visit to his high school, Ulladulla High. Meanwhile, fellow South Coast native, Thunder men’s team’s newest addition, Nic Maddinson, was caught in a whirlwind of interviews including a few at the Dubbo Zoo in the presence of some very unique creatures who might be cricket’s newest fans. The South Coast were quick and proud to point out that their region now has two Thunder players.
A cricket clinic at Wagga Wagga featured eight players from the four teams including Sixers’ captain Moises Henriques, while in the Far North, Sammy-Jo Johnson and Kurtis Patterson participated in Indigenous cricket clinics at Casino and Coraki, organised by the Cricket NSW Foundation, the charitable arm of Cricket NSW, that saw over 300 kids in attendance. By the end of the two-day tour, thousands of youngsters and volunteers had met and spent time with NSW’s current cricket stars who set out to inspire the next generation to play the game and ensure another wonderful summer of cricket.