A new women’s cricket team is off the ground at the Warragul Gulls Cricket Club, training hard before the start of the summer season.

The side will go up against men in Division 6 of the WDCA, and one other women’s team at Longwarry.

Erin Macfarlane had the idea to start a women’s team last year, and now with new hot pink uniforms, it’s a reality.

“Longwarry have a women’s team as well and I thought why not have another women’s team,” she said.

Macfarlane hopes that after getting some solid training underway, the Gulls will have good chances to beat the men.

“If we trained more and weren’t washed out like today we could probably beat them but it’s all in fun and games,” she said.

Macfarlane has played at the Warragul Gulls with a mixed team for two years now, and said it can be “quite scary” to start out playing with men.

“It can be when you’re first starting up, I know I was a little bit when I first started but then I grew and got more out of playing with males,” she said.

Now a solid bowler, she hopes the new team will encourage more to try out the sport.

“I enjoyed it but I thought since women might not be willing to play with the boys, I thought it would be a good idea to give them a go with an all females team,” she said.

Macfarlane will captain the side when cricket returns, and hopes to develop her batting skills before their first match next month.

Initially, there were nine players at their first training. While COVID and the delay to the cricket season has impacted these numbers, Macfarlane hopes to sign more before they play their first match.

The Gulls are actively recruiting, and registration is open for women aged 16 and up.