WOMEN'S CRICKET - Emily bowls 'em over

TELEVISION can be blamed for many things but it also has some positives.
Take Northern Districts bowler Emily Bailey who might never have started playing cricket if she hadn't got caught up in a one-day international on the telly.
"I saw it on TV and I thought it looked pretty cool so I decided to give it a go," she said.
And the 15-year-old hasn't looked back since.
Last week, the right-arm off spinner was the only Northland player selected into the State Northern Spirit's development side.
It is her second consecutive year with the team and she is looking forward to some more game-time this season after last season's programme was badly affected by rain.
"It's very challenging for me because the level of competition is a lot better to what I'm used to up here," she said.
You might expect there to be several boys in the family or a cricket crazy dad - but that's not the case with Emily.
"None of my family are sporty ... in fact my dad just started playing cricket this year in the twilight league on Wednesdays, and that's more because I've got him started by getting him to bowl to me," she said.
Because there simply aren't enough women cricketers to support a women's league in Northland - indeed only the big cities can sustain women's competitions - she plays most of her cricket in boys' teams.
"On Saturdays I play with a Whangarei Boys' [High School] team in the under-17 competition and I've been going okay and picking up some wickets," she said.
The guys in opposing teams are usually "really nice" to her on the field but no one does her any favours because she's a girl.
She bats down the order usually at about No.7 or 8 but for the ND team she'll probably fill the No.11 role.
Emily would like to move up one further level and play first class cricket for ND.
"If I can get into the State side it would be interesting - we'll see what happens after that," she said.
But that's still on the long term plan.