Women's social cricket competition is coming to Orange in Western first

Her husband Tristan skippered Centrals' second grade team during the 2022/23 season, her eldest son plays and she grew up alongside five brothers.

"There's been a lot of backyard cricket," she said.

But apart from the occasional game in high school, Mrs Moon never really ventured into the sport herself, despite being active from a young age.

"As you get older and have a family, for women it gets pushed back a little bit or there's not as much focus on women's sport as there is on men's," she said.

That's slowly starting to change.

Mrs Moon pointed to the recent success of the Fifa Women's World Cup as a perfect example of why more options were needed for budding female athletes.

Now those opportunities are starting to arise in Orange.

A female-only social cricket competition - which is believed to be the first of its kind for the Western Zone - will soon start up in town.

Two teams from Centrals and a Canowindra group have already registered to take part in the competition where games will run for 90 minutes.

"I was definitely surprised there were so many women willing to come out and play, especially considering they haven't played cricket before," Mrs Moon, who will be part of the Centrals playing group said.

"It's on a Friday night, so there's a lot of social interaction as well."

On top of other cricketing commitments, Mrs Moon also volunteers for the Girls Blast program, which brings together junior players on Wednesday afternoons.

She hoped this new social competition could provide a pathway for those juniors to continue participating in the sport.

"We want to create opportunities, especially for girls living out rurally," she said.

"You only have to look at Phoebe Litchfield to see what can be achieved. I would like for them to be able to feel confident in choosing a sport, loving a sport and feeling confident in pursuing it."

Centrals player and NSW Cricket area manager Angus Norton was the brain-child behind this historic competition.

He cited a 250 per cent increase in girls participation as a reason he wanted to get this new program up and running.

"Having seen fantastic achievements in women's sport locally and nationally, with the WNCL coming to Orange, Phoebe Litchfield getting her baggy green, and the Matildas recent World Cup success, we want to continue providing opportunities for girls and women to participate in cricket," he said.

"This summer, cricket clubs in Orange and Bathurst will be offering girls only Cricket Blast and social women's cricket."

Although dates have not yet been locked in, it is anticipated games will run from 5.30pm on Friday afternoons.

Teams will feature eight players per side and the games will be played with a softer ball and "a few rule changes" to speed up the matches. Those interested in signing up are asked to contact their relevant cricket club, be it Centrals, CYMS, Cavaliers or Orange City.

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