Launceston is hosting the first of five high-performance Saturdays that are set to turn Cricket Tasmania's pathway talent into its next stars.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The intrastate series will hit off at the NTCA No.2 Ground with back-to-back Twenty20 games on Saturday, another T20 double header and three 50-over matches to follow.
Cricket Tasmania's female pathway head coach Sara McGlashan said the point of the internal trials is to bridge the gap between the state's Premier League to the WNCL Tasmania Tigers' program.
"This series type is an opportunity to give those players a chance to transfer what they have been doing in the winter [program] into game situations," McGlashan said.
"From our point of view, it's more of a chance to play a more competitive cricket out of the club cricket scene."
Greater Northern Raiders coaches Darren Simmonds and Robert Stewart will mentor the two sides that include a number of Tigers, English imports, but also feature the bulk of their own players.
Raiders members Rhianne Hack, Sophie Parkin, Alice McLauchlin, Meg Radford, Charlotte Layton from the North and Sasha Lowry and Kate Chaplin from the North West will line up.
But McGlashan has also identified Riverside pair Kate Sherriff and Sara Wilkin with Mowbray's Phoebe Atkins as teenage players to watch.
The double-header also attracted Launceston-raised Katelyn Fryett and Emma Manix-Geeves back home all while at the opposite ends of their Tasmanian careers.
McGlashan believed it was integral to mix state academy inductees with as many of the Tigers-contracted players not involved in the WBBL.
"That's just huge from my point of view, being able to have those players in around our academy players during game situation, which is the best time to learn," she said.
"Those opportunities are really invaluable and we're really looking forward to the five Saturdays of cricket."
The one-time New Zealand international star said the 50-over games - away from the Premier League 40-over and T20 cricket - will prepare the talent for the next level.
"For age-group tournaments, that's what they're playing and the girls who are hoping to knock on the door of a Tigers contract need to be exposed to it," she said.
Subscriptions are available here.
Sign up to our Sport email here.
Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
