Blackwell looking forward to Willowfest

WILLOWFEST ambassador Alex Blackwell hopes more local females will take advantage of the Sunraysia women’s cricket competition.
The Australian women’s test cricketer will be in Mildura on December 29 and 30 during the annual cricket championship.
Blackwell only learned the region had its own women’s competition after signing on as Willowfest ambassador.
“I’m blown way there is a women’s competition there. That is absolutely great news because I know how hard it is to get a women’s competition up and running,” she said.
“I’d be interested to learn more and talk to the volunteers and administrators who have got it going because I understand the challenges they might face.”
Blackwell said she did not have access to a women’s competition as a young woman and hoped the Sunraysia competition could be a pathway for girls who want to seriously pursue cricket as a sport.
“I grew up in the country and was a girl playing in boys cricket (competitions) all the time,” she said.
“That’s my experience of cricket and while there were a lot of positives that went with that, there were some negatives as well.
“Having a women’s competition will only encourage more females to take it up and stay in the sport, so hopefully that is just the start of bigger and better things.”
Blackwell played cricket with the boys until she was 16, but began to consider how to access women’s competitions as a 14-year-old.
She and twin sister Kate boarded at Barker College in Sydney for Years 11 and 12 and it was there Blackwell was introduced to all female cricket.
“When you’re younger, girls and boys can play cricket alongside each other,” Blackwell said.
“In the Mildura area, I think young girls can certainly play against the boys and when they are ready, they’ve got something to go to.”
Willowfest runs annually from December 27-30, drawing teams from all over Australia to compete for a huge prize money purse.
While admitting she did not know much about the championship, Blackwell said she was thrilled to be its first female ambassador.
“I’m really excited to be getting to Mildura, I’ve never been there and I’ve always heard it’s a great place,” she said.
“I was very excited that an (Australian Cricketers’ Association) opportunity came up, as part of an initiative to get current and past players to do appearances around the country, to help inspire young players, impart experience and just give them a little bit of a boost.”
The Australian women’s cricket team take on the West Indies in a T20 and One Day International series over the next three weeks.
“Hopefully people in Sunraysia will get behind us and there’ll be some new interest in women’s cricket after I visit,” Blackwell added.