The 2021/22 edition of the competition has been extended in all regards to feature six teams playing ten rounds of matches, the first of which took place on Wednesday, November 17, at Stephens Park and Lackey Park.

The preliminary clashes saw the Wingello Tigers take on Robertson Burrawang, the Hill Top Woolfes play the Hill Top Leneve's, and Bowral face Moss Vale.

Everything Waltho had hoped to see from this competition was on display on Wednesday. The rep players exhibited their abilities against one another, while the newer cricketers were welcomed and given the chance to build their skills, and sometimes even received words of advice from opposition players.

"It was great, we've got the sunshine, we've got people who haven't played before who gave it a go, and everybody got involved," Waltho said.

"There were catches, there were stumpings, there were people who were bowled out, it was fantastic and everybody was giving it a go.

"Some of these ladies have never played cricket before, so they can have a go, it's very inclusive and we help each other along the way. There was coaching out there, we're helping each other learn, because that's what it's about."

On paper, the fixture to watch was the match between Wingello and Robertson Burrawang, who were last year's finalists. Though that match did exhibit some excellent cricket, particularly from Shania Martin (39 retired from 20 balls), Bec Keightley (27 retired from 20 balls), Neve Wallace (0-4 from two overs), and Georgia Finlayson (0-9 from three overs), as the Tigers emerged winners by 67 runs, the real nailbiter took place on the adjacent wicket at Stephens Park.

There, the two Hill Top sides produced a thriller which was separated by just five runs in the end.

In a low-scoring affair, the Woolfes, who batted first, scored 74 all out from 18.3 overs. They were restricted by a wonderful all-round bowling effort from the Leneve's, specifically spells from Allison Simons (2-5 from two) and Louise Fursman (2-8 from two).

However, in response the Leneve's could not maintain a high enough run rate, despite losing just four wickets in 20 overs. They finished on 4-69, and Waltho herself was the chief destroyer with ball in hand after a spell of 2-5 from three to go with a run-out.

Finally, the match at Lackey Park was itself an entertaining encounter, as Moss Vale won the toss and batted first for a score of 2-98.

However, thanks in large part to a strong score of 26 from 18 balls from Samantha Badgery, Bowral chased down the total with four overs to spare.

In just a few weeks since the start of the pre-season, Waltho has seen growth in the skills of the local women. This trend, she hopes, will continue as the Tina Macperson Cup proceeds.

"The growth is huge, some of those women hadn't touched a cricket ball before three weeks ago when COVID restrictions eased," Waltho said.

"Probably two thirds of those women had never touched a cricket ball, and have now played a game of cricket. We've evened it up so there's about five players in each team that have played before ... so they're going to help and hopefully the newer players will upskill through the competition."

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