ON A MISSION: Former Timaru Girls High School allrounder Amy Beeby wants to help lift the standard of women’s cricket in South Canterbury back to the halcyon days of the 1990s.
Amy Beeby wants to make sure South Canterbury continues to produce New Zealand women’s cricket players.
The former Timaru Girls’ High School captain has taken on a women’s cricket development role with South Canterbury Cricket with the aim of helping girls in year seven to nine learn and improve in the game.
Beeby is playing her cricket in Dunedin after finishing her schooling and will commute to make the 25-hour-a-week role work while she also studies psychology.
She was part of the Otago Sparks winter training squad and is likely to make the Otago under 21 team for its national campaign next month.
The allrounder dominated senior women’s cricket in South Canterbury last season.
She scored 169 runs at an average of 84.5 with the bat and took 17 wickets at an average of 4.35 to win both the women’s batting and bowling trophies.
“I want to try to get women’s cricket back to where it used to be in Timaru because it used to be so strong but now it has really dropped off.”
TGHS won the national secondary school competition in 1996, 1997, and 1999, as well as coming second twice.
South Cantabrians Haidee Tiffen, Janet Brehaut and Rowan Milburn have all played for the White Ferns and the area has produced several provincial players.
“I’m trying to get to the young ones [interested] because they are at the age where they still listen to everything and enjoy playing sport.
“You have to try and show them the fun stuff first.”
Beeby hoped she could be the perfect example of what could be achieved as she worked to crack the Sparks team under coach Warren Lees.
She said Lees was keen to see her make the step up and her left-arm seam ability was seen as an asset to her chances.