By Tara Murray
South Morang capped off a landmark season with the North Metro Cricket Association Lorraine Ireland women’s Lenore Smith Shield spring premiership.
The Lions claimed their second women’s premiership in stunning fashion after a demolition job with the ball against Pascoe Vale Central earlier this month.
Lions captain Jessica Parker said the premiership was the icing of the cake for the club’s women’s program this season.
“It’s very exciting,” she said. “We worked pretty hard in the off season to try and grow our program.
“We wanted to have two women’s teams and have a girls team for the first time at South Morang.
“We’ve been able to have two women’s sides and two girls teams in the space of three years.
“Winning the premiership was icing on top. It meant a lot to all of us.”
Parker said they’ve worked closely with the girls teams, with many of those players stepping up to play in the women’s side.
She said they wanted to have that pathway for the juniors that were coming through.
Having won the division 3 premiership a couple of seasons ago in 2022, the Lions this season had put a focus on claiming the division 2 premiership.
Parker said they knew that they would likely play in division 1 the following season, so they wanted to step up on a winning note.
“We thought it was a good opportunity to get the division 2 premiership,” she said. “We thought we had the team to do it.
“We are a well balanced team and a good team. We ticked the box and the goal was achieved.”
In the grand final, the Lions faced Pascoe Vale Central.
Parker said the performance was one that they could only have dreamt of.
The bowlers got the job done, with Pascoe Vale bowled out for just 58.
Natasha Kiper and Kristy Carbis took four wickets each for the Lions.
Parker said the bowling group did a brilliant job to put them in that position.
She said the message during the break was to take their time and be sensible.
The Lions finished 1-59 in the 21 overs.
Carbis top scored with 26 not out, while Parker was unbeaten on 22.
“We wanted to lose as few wickets as possible,” Parker said. “It was great.”
Parker paid tribute to coach Mick Kay who made sure they got the basics right each week.
Parker said they were looking forward to the challenge of going into the top grade.
The summer season starts in early January.
“We have work to do,” she said. “Heidelberg, Hurstbridge and Epping are the teams to beat.
“We won the division 3 premiership against Heidelberg and they have gone on to have a lot of success and set the benchmark.
“We’ll train hard and we will face them at some stage. We’ll set goals for division 1.”
As well as growth in the women’s program, the club has grown to more than 20 teams.
Parker said the club was looking to fundraise to be able to improve their training facilities to cater for the growth.
