Alex Konrote encouraged by increased female participation in Fiji

Alex Konrote, president of Cricket Fiji, said women's cricket in the country has grown tremendously over the last year with more and more women and girls showing interest in the game.

Earlier this year, when Cricket Fiji hosted the T10 Women's Bula Bash League which had six teams taking part, Konrote had stated that one of the board's main motives was to increase participation and create a "wider development plan."

“When we started, we managed to get six teams, after three rounds interest has grown as far as Lautoka and now we have teams asking from all over the place,” Konrote told Fiji Times. “The majority of associations with men’s teams that we have, their women have opted to field teams as well. They have wanted to play for years but have not had the opportunity.”

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Konrote mentioned that one of the aims was to create women's teams at all levels - Under-15, Under-19 and senior teams - to encourage girls of all age groups to take up the sport. He added that the recent spike in participation was a positive sign for the sport in the country, especially with the T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific qualifiers scheduled for next year.

“It is good for us with the Asia Pacific Qualifiers next year it is a start to find a good women’s team by the end of the year and then we will build on them for the next five months.”