Cowra Gets Cricket Carnival-ready With New Nets And Synthetic Pitches

A few months ago, when Cricket NSW was looking to organise one of its first regional junior cricket carnivals during the December and January summer holidays, one town that jumped up in venue considerations was Cowra.

The reasons were manifold. Cowra’s rich history meant that more people in the region would be interested in making a trip of it, something akin to going for a visit, but also playing great cricket while you’re at it.

Another big reason was, Cowra is ready and prepped for the scale of a junior cricket carnival, that sees intense activity on pitches, not to mention practice nets, over two to four days as over 140-odd children are expected to use them during that time, for practice and play.

This summer, Cricket NSW is hosting nine Sixers and Thunder junior cricket carnivals in five locations, three in metro and two in regional areas. Coffs Harbour will see the first Sixers regional carnival, while Cowra is all set to host the first Thunder holiday carnival outside of Sydney.

Meanwhile, over the last couple of years, the Cowra Council and Cowra Junior Cricket Association (CJCA) have been quietly improving cricket infrastructure in the town. The council and association were granted $5695 in Round 2 of the Australian Cricket Infrastructure Funding (ACIF) in 202324 to repair their training nets at the local Twigg Oval.

This year, in the first Round of ACIF grants, Cowra has been awarded another $7580 to replace two centre pitches at its Raudonikis and Rodwell Ovals. The CJCA and their president, Lee Wilson, are so proactive, they have decided to affect the pitch replacements with synthetic turfs right away through their own funding, to be compensated for when the grant comes through in early 2025.

This ensures the new pitches, compliant with junior cricket markings, will be ready by January 23, 2025, when the first regional Sydney Thunder cricket carnival will be played in Cowra. The carnival already has seven Stage 2 teams registered, with 105 boys and 16 girls under the age of 13 playing matches, competition-style, on January 23 and 24, under Cricket Australia junior cricket rules and officiated by NSW accredited umpires, to get a taste of fun, competitive cricket during the summer holidays.

Junior cricket in Cowra has thrived in recent years. During the 2022-23 season, CJCA won the Cricket NSW award for Junior Cricket Initiative of the Year and went on to be a finalist at Cricket Australia’s Community Cricket Awards in the category that year.

The Cricket NSW Foundation has also contributed to the improvement of the facilities in Cowra including donating $1500 for the restoration of turf wickets at McPherson and Oliver Ovals, specifically to aid in the hosting of the regional cricket carnival.

Jake Balnave, Head of the Cricket NSW Foundation, said:

“The Thunder holiday cricket carnival at Cowra provides to boys and girls to continue to play cricket over the holiday period is a wonderful initiative and is true to the Foundation’s mission to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to play and love cricket.”

Dean Hunter, State Infrastructure Manager, Cricket NSW, said:

“The Cowra Junior Cricket Association is a great example of how putting in quality applications at a regional level can improve the quality of the game for our junior cricketers. It is impressive that they have put in back-to-back applications for achievable improvements in the town’s cricket infrastructure and worked together with both the city’s council and Cricket NSW to create these wonderful experiences for our junior cricketers.

“We are working with council and cricket associations across NSW towns to create upgradation plans for local cricket infrastructure based on our audit that was released earlier this year and hope to have many more NSW towns ready for junior cricket carnivals in coming years.”

Angus Norton, Cricket Manager – Central West, Cricket NSW, said:

“Cowra has a rich cricketing history, and we are excited to hold the first regional Thunder holiday cricket carnival in this town. It is also a centrally-located, accessible, regional location and we want to encourage girls and boys from NSW South and West inland towns and beyond to come and participate in this unique holiday offering. This is a great step towards playing fun, fast-paced competitive cricket, and also some useful practice for when junior cricket leagues resume their fixtures in early February.”

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• Cricket