Cricketers make the national grade

Great Southern female cricketers Belinda Smith and Kayla Vanspall have performed well for WA in their title quest at the under-18 Female National Cricket Championships in Ballarat, Victoria over the past week.

Smith, who hails from Pingrup, and Vanspall, from Wagin, both represented WA during the championship which ended yesterday, with the sandgropers playing off for third spot against South Australia in their final. WA finished fourth on the ladder after seven rounds, losing their first match to SA by 44 runs last Wednesday before bouncing back to thrash Tasmania by 113 runs on Thursday.

In round three, WA fell 74 runs short against New South Wales in their first Twenty20 match last Friday before losing to the Australian Capital Territory by 64 runs.

However, WA rallied to finish the tournament with two wins on Sunday, defeating Queensland by seven wickets before winning a thriller against Victoria by three wickets and only two balls to spare, in the second Twenty20 match of the day. Before yesterday’s final, Smith had taken five wickets at an average of 21.8 for the tournament, including 2-22 against Tasmania, while Vanspall had bowled 16 overs without taking a wicket, but had scored six runs in three innings.

“The highlight was beating Victoria on Sunday, we haven’t beaten them in a long time,” Smith said.

“The best player was our captain Chloe Piparo, she made two centuries and a half century.”

Piparo, who was joined in the squad by fellow Western Fury player Heather Graham, had made 290 runs at an average of 145 in just five matches.

Smith, a 17-year-old seam bowler, started playing cricket at a young age before moving to Perth for boarding school where she joined grade club Subiaco-Marist.

“I used to play cricket at Pingrup Primary School, mucking around with my brothers,” she said.

Vanspall plays for Midland-Guildford since leaving Wagin.