Nida Dar is out of WBBL due to national duties, she has been replaced by the Aussie, Olivia Porter.
She started playing club cricket at the age of 10 and has groomed well within the boy’s team in childhood days. Discussing the evolution in women’s cricket growing up, she says “It just shows how dominating and how strong females are becoming in the game,” she said. “I didn’t think there was ever going to be a WBBL, as it wasn’t advocated for enough at the time, and now they do.”
As this was a last-minute call-up, she didn’t get much time to prep up “I was a bit overwhelmed and shocked, I couldn’t even pull one word together,” she said.
Porter said the lack of women’s cricket in her youth made her the player she is today. She played with the Ryde Hunters Hill Pirates Cricket Club in the boys’ team from the ages of 10 to 14. “I filled in for my brother’s team first before going in individually, there weren’t any girls’ teams about at the time so I fitted in,” she said. “I felt nervous every time. When they said a girl was playing they automatically wanted to play better, that’s why it was such a good challenge.”
It was this attitude that pushed Porter to rise above the boys her age. “They wanted to get the girl out, they wanted to hit her for six, typical boys, but I loved it,” she said. “I now recommend it for heaps of girls who are starting out.”
Thunder coach Trevor Griffin said Porter had been on the club’s radar for some time and was an exciting replacement choice. “Olivia has been doing some great things in the [Cricket NSW] pathways, and she played in the [under-19] Lanning XI-Perry XI matches in Canberra last weekend,” he said.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for the Sydney Thunder to expose a young player such as Olivia to the WBBL. As a coach, it’s also the perfect chance for me to see where Olivia is at [cricket wise].”
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
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