Signature from a star: Students from St Joesph’s Primary School line up for a poster from Melbourne Stars player Sophie Day.
Photo by
Hamish Donaldson
It is clear that Australia has come down with women’s sport fever and on Wednesday students at St Joseph’s Primary School met a star.
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Sophie Day who plays as a left-arm orthodox spinner for the Melbourne Stars visited a number of schools in the Benalla area as part of Play Cricket Week.
Day said the experience of inspiring children to play cricket was one she would not forget.
“It’s awesome to get the opportunity to come out to places I’ve never been,” Day said.
“To connect with different communities, meet new people and hopefully we’ve inspired a few next generation cricketers and they can take my spot.”
Over three days, multiple players from the Stars visited over 45 schools across East and West Gippsland, the Mornington Peninsula, Victorian High Country and north-east Victoria.
Fun and games: St Joseph’s students take part in activities set up by the Melbourne Stars.
The Stars also launched the Border Bash in Albury on Monday August 21, to coincide with tickets going on sale for both the BBL and WBBL.
The WBBL has also announced that Melbourne Derby between the Stars and Renegades will be held at the MCG for the first time on November 25 and Day is already excited for the match.
“I can’t wait to play at the MCG, (I’m) really really pumped,” she said.
“I think the opportunity for female sport to get on the biggest stage is really great as well as you can see after the recent success of the Matildas but also what the girls did with the World Cup a few years ago in the cricket so it would be pretty cool to follow suit and have as many kids and families and different people down at the G.
“I think the standard of the women’s game now is so high and we’ve got the best in the world coming out (to Australia to play) so it’ll be a good spectacle.”
Learning from the best: St Joseph’s students practising their catching skills with WBBL player Sophie Day.
Day has become a mainstay of the Stars line-up over the past two seasons, having played 25 games alongside some of the best players in the world.
“Meg (Lanning) has been my captain for three years now with Victoria and the Melbourne Stars,” she said.
“I’m extremely lucky, can’t get much better than having the Australian captain to learn from and she’s someone that has really mentored me and showed me the ropes when I first came into the team but also just gave me that confidence and belief out there and such a calm head out on the field.
“You don’t get much better than Meg Lanning.”
While the Super Stars Road Trip was aimed at inspiring the next generation of cricketers, it also emphasised that the route for regional players to rise up the ranks is open and Day says that rural players have what it takes.
“What Cricket Victoria is starting to set up with opportunities and the pathway system that they’ve created, it’s about trying to find more talent and there is so much talent out in these areas,” she said.
“It’s just how do we tap into that and hopefully school visits like this only promotes the game and sees more cricketers out and about.”
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