The Melbourne Renegades are excited to bring the Women’s Big Bash League to Ballarat on Sunday, with the hopes of playing in front of 2000 people at Eastern Oval.
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The Renegades will take on the Adelaide Strikers from 2.10pm in the round two fixture on Sunday.
Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham got an early look at the ground on Tuesday – and they were impressed.
“It’s beautiful, the ground is nice and green and the pitch is looking really good – and it’s only Tuesday,” Molineux said at Tuesday’s media conference.
“We’re really excited to get up here and give it a go.”
Molineux said while the side would be eager to respond after last week’s six-wicket loss to Sydney Thunder, this clash had extra meaning given the benefits it would hold for growing the game in country Victoria, which many of the Renegades players hail from.
“We’re all just really excited to be out here and playing in country Victoria.
“A lot of us are from country Victoria, so to see over the years how many more girls are playing cricket in these regions, we’re really pumped to be involved in that.”
Wareham shared the thoughts of her teammate and felt being a Mortlake junior, as well as playing under-18 nationals at the venue, it was like playing at her home ground and expected the crowd to be right behind the Renegades.
“It’s pretty cool being kind of like home in this sort of area, I’ll have a lot of family here,” Wareham said.
“It will be great to see all the young kids here as well.
“I think it’s going to be pretty pro Renegades and I think that’s going to help us going forward.”
City of Ballarat mayor Samantha McIntosh was excited to see such quality players grace the Ballarat turf.
She was expecting strong numbers to the event and was looking forward to showcasing one of Ballarat’s finest sporting facilities.
“It will be wonderful seeing a couple of thousand people around this gorgeous Eastern Oval,” McIntosh said.
“I think the numbers that come here on the weekend will be entertained no just by the cricket, but everything else surrounding the cricket as well.”
In the opening round, the Renegades slumped to 8-98 from its 20 overs against the Sydney Thunder in a six-wicket loss.
Wareham showing some resolve down the order with an unbeaten 17 off 18 deliveries.
