Cricket Victoria plans to work with the Brimbank council to accommodate the rapid growth in the game.
Cricket Victoria’s Infrastructure Strategy identified the western metro region as cricket’s fastest-growing participation region across Victoria.
A total of 645 additional players (or about 60 more teams) registered between the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, 200 more than any other region across the state during the same period.
There was growth in membership across all traditional player categories (introductory, junior and senior) as well as 74 more female players, taking total female participation figures to just over 200.
Wyndham (2294), Brimbank (1612), and Hobsons Bay (1026) were the largest participating areas across the region following the 2016-17 season.
Cricket Victoria public policy and government relations manager Anthony Ilott said it was critical the governing body and the council work together to cater for the demand.
“With places like Brimbank, there might not be readily available space for council to just build ovals, so we’ll look to do other things,” he said. “One thing we’ve tried is roll-out pitches, where we can just roll out the pitch, put down a few witches hats and get a game going at a green space where we might not have thought of playing before.”
Catering for an influx of female cricketers was also high on the list of priorities.
Two years ago an audit of Brimbank’s grounds showed that of those with changerooms just 32 per cent were female friendly. While the number is low, it comes in above the Victorian average of 22 per cent.
