Wellington girls' team on tour in South Africa

Fourteen 13-16-year-old Wellington girls are on a two-week tour of South Africa.

All the players have been representative cricket players for either Wellington or Hutt Valley and are having a six-match tour, hosted by the Western and Eastern Province Cricket Associations.

They are playing four matches in the Cape Town area and two in Port Elizabeth.

Former New Zealand batsman Bruce Edgar is the team coach and has been working with the girls on skills and fitness development since July.

The tour is seen as a significant development in Wellington broadening its player base in the women's game while also allowing an assessment of skills and coping in the touring environment.

Previously Wellington girls players were involved in a similar tour to Argentina.

It is hoped that 28-30 players will enter a similar development programme later this year to prepare for a tour to Australia next year. It is intended to take both an elite side, and a development team, to Australia.

Cricket Wellington has supported the initiative but its only involvement has been to provide its Cricket Academy on a complimentary basis for practices.

The players raised $85,000 through fundraising and support from Hutt Valley Gaming Machine Trusts while the team's sponsor is Rexel New Zealand.

The team is: Holly Edgar, Gina Ropiana, Rachel Harris and Philippa Gueorgieff (all 16 years old), Hannah Bedford, Christina Boonen, Olivia Dean, Lucy Doolan, Priya Patel, Alana Smith (15), Ella Brockelsby, Paige Edgar, Emily Leslie (14) and Amy Hensman (13). The manager is Wainui Bedford.

The team arrived in Johannesburg and took in Sun City and a game reserve before travelling to Port Elizabeth for their first two matches.

They travelled to Cape Town on Good Friday and play their last two matches tomorrow and on Thursday before flying back to New Zealand on Saturday and arriving back in New Zealand on Sunday.