CLAIRE Widdicombe led from the front as captain of the Hamilton and District Women’s Cricket Association (HDWCA) Hurricanes with an outstanding performance with both bat and ball against Warrnambool on Sunday.

History was made at Port Fairy’s Avery’s Paddock, as these two neighbours finally met in their first representative match and a very good crowd was in attendance to witness the event.

All would come away more than impressed with the standard of the local players, as both teams put on a wonderful display of their skills.

The Hurricanes fielded a very young team (only four players were aged over 16), as the selectors looked to the future and they would have been very happy with the performances of their selections.

Widdicombe won the toss and elected to send the home side into bat on what looked a very good batting surface and it proved to be so, as the Warrnambool opening batters added 65 for the first wicket.

No matter which bowler was brought into the attack, the first success evaded the Hurricanes, as Kym Rowe (37) and Mikaela Doran (43) defied all attempts to dismiss them.

To their credit they didn’t offer a chance and their predominantly legside stroke making saw the ball speed to the fence time and again.

Grace Potter made the initial breakthrough by bowling Rowe in the 12th over, and from there on the Hurricanes held sway over the batters with some great line and length bowling that saw the run rate dry up and wickets fall.

The Hurricanes’ fielding was a highlight, as the team produced three run outs with Grace Potter grabbing a brace with two excellent pieces of work and Widdicombe added a run out to her two wickets, as Warrnambool finished on 8-129 from its allotted overs.

Knowing that she had a very young batting line-up behind her, Widdicombe knew that she had to lead the way with the willow in hand.

She and Ella Jackson were the class batters on display in the match, as they played shots all-round the ground.

Jackson was more than happy to turn the strike over by scoring singles to get her skipper back on strike, and together the pair ran between the wickets brilliantly to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

They would add 72 for the first wicket from the opening 14 overs to have the Hurricanes well on track to record a victory, but Jackson (17) was bowled and Widdicombe had to retire not out for a brilliant 53 (that came from 56 balls and included three boundaries), which saw the momentum swing to the home side.

The Hurricanes were restricted by the great fielding of the Warrnambool players that saw the run rate reduce sharply, as the batters failed to hit the gaps in the field.

Aside from the opening batters, no other player managed to record double figures and the Hurricanes would fall short of their target by only eight runs.

Widdicombe was a deserved Player of the Match for her efforts with the bat and ball and all players are eagerly awaiting the return clash in Hamilton next season.

Such is the tidal wave of women’s cricket in the south-west that a new competition will be staged next summer as part of the KFC Festival of Cricket that will see these two teams joined by Mount Gambier, Colac, Geelong and hopefully Ballarat.

They will compete alongside the men each month with the final here in Hamilton.