Meg Lanning, current Australian Women’s Cricket Captain, proud Carey alum and recently anointed Carey Medallist, would have a huge grin in the knowledge that girls’ cricket is starting to rise from the shadows as a stand-alone sport for girls at Carey.
For so long a game ‘just for boys’, Meg was an APS pioneer back in 2006 when she defied the norm and joined in. She starred with both bat and ball in the Carey Boys First XI from Year 9 and since departing school has become arguably Australia’s greatest female cricketer.
But cricket for girls at Carey has taken some time to develop. If we roll the clock back to the early 1980s, a keen maths teacher named Robyn Macready Bryan introduced girls cricket at Carey – ad-hoc games were arranged against any school that would take up the offer. Despite her best efforts, Robyn’s dream of girls’ cricket being a fully-fledged APS sport fell short and only a handful of matches were played in the 1990s and early 2000s.
However, 2022 paints a different picture, with our current girls team enjoying almost undefeated status in the APS junior competition. In addition, a terrific celebration unfolded in late February with the inaugural Robyn Macready Bryan Cup – played on the magnificent turf wickets at Carey Bulleen against our Old Carey Women’s Team (feature image). In an epic and high-standard tussle, the Carey girls prevailed by one run – a fitting start to what we predict will be an annual event on the Carey sporting calendar.
We were also proud to see Year 7 student Lily (pictured below) named Vice-Captain of the Team Vic 12 and Under Girls Cricket Team last month. The future of girls cricket at Carey is certainly bright.
Ian Hewett, Head of Cricket at Carey, is thrilled with our development in Girls Cricket at the School. ‘It’s fantastic that we have a stand-alone girls team at Carey. We have a great mix of experienced and beginner-level players who are gelling well as a team, but more importantly, love playing cricket. I look forward to more girls trying out the sport in the future’, says Ian.
With our 2021 Carey Medallist and current Australian Captain, Meg Lanning, providing the inspiration, we can’t wait to build on our recent success and continue to provide our Carey girls with a fun and challenging cricket environment into the future.
Paul Jepson
Head of Sport
