Meet the 38-year-old who represents a tidal wave of players rushing to play sport

Ashlee Stevens is not sure if technically she can be considered a batter or a bowler.

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But what the 38-year-old does know is that she has quickly fallen in love with playing cricket.

The mother of three is among a tidal wave of women and girls flocking to the sport in Newcastle.

Ashlee Stevens (main picture) is new to cricket and will play for Cardiff-Boolaroo in an expanded Newcastle District Cricket Association (NDCA) women's competition this summer. Top right, Lezette Cowan and Ash Bain are playing for Wallsend. Bottom right, NDCA club representatives. Pictures by Jonathan Carroll

A record number of players and teams have registered for this summer's Newcastle District Cricket Association's (NDCA) women's midweek competition, which is played in Twenty20 format on turf wickets and starts on Wednesday evening.

Stevens, a regional nursing manager, had watched plenty of cricket but never played until last year with Maryland Fletcher.

"My whole family is cricket mad," Stevens said.

"My husband is cricket mad. One of my sons used to go to bed with a mini cricket bat instead of a teddy bear at night.

"So I've had no choice but to learn to love cricket. There was an idea last year to make a women's team and I said, 'If you can get one team together, I'll join'.

"I did and I fell in love with it, so I'm back again for a second season."

With a background in dancing and soccer, Stevens is more comfortable using her feet than her hands.

"This is a learning curve for me," she said.

"Technically, I don't know if I'm any good at batting or bowling ... but it's a lot of fun. I love it."

Stevens will line up for newcomers Cardiff-Boolaroo this year in second grade, previously known as Plate.

"A lot of the crew from Maryland Fletcher have gone out to Cardiff-Boolaroo," she said.

"We had a really good season last year. We've got a really great crew and I'm really excited for this season."

The team is a mix of "old girls" and a crop of rising talent getting a taste of senior cricket.

For Stevens, the social aspect is "probably the best part of the game".

"People say how can you stand on a field for two hours and wait to catch a ball," she said.

"But that's not what it's about. It's about being out there with everybody and feeling the vibe and the culture within the team.

"Then you get together afterwards and have tea. I missed it in the winter. I've met a great bunch of friends and you're never too old to start something new."

The Newcastle District Cricket Association's women's competition has grown from four teams in 2019 to 18 teams across two grades. Picture by Jonathan Carroll

The Newcastle women's competition started as four teams in 2019.

There are a record 18 teams across two divisions this year.

First grade, previously known as Cup, has eight teams and there are 10 in second grade.

Hamilton-Wickham and Cardiff-Boolaroo return to the competition, fielding teams in second grade.

Merewether, Newcastle City, Wallsend, Charlestown, Wests and Warners Bay all have two teams, one in each grade.

Warners Bay and Charlestown step up to first grade after Plate success.

"It's very exciting," Warners Bay's Chelsea Veney said.

"It's a good opportunity for our players to play against some more experienced teams, and we've got lots of experience across the board, so I think it will be alright."

Veney, 31, is among a number of women who have been brought back to the game through the opportunity to play women's cricket in Newcastle.

The right-handed batter played as a kid in Wollongong and then joined Warners Bay when she moved to Newcastle two years ago.

Warners Bay top-order batter Chelsea Veney was looking forward to the club's step up to first grade this year. Picture by Jonathan Carroll

Lezette Cowan has also relished the opportunity to play cricket again.

The 43-year-old plays for Wallsend, who have added a second side this year.

"I used to play a lot of indoor cricket and outdoor wherever I could, back in the late 90s, but there wasn't a big competition for women back then," Cowan said.

"If you wanted to go anywhere with cricket you had to travel to Sydney, so having a competition up here in Newcastle is absolutely fantastic, and the talent of the girls that you see is amazing.

"There's so many young girls coming through. It's so good, and the opportunities for women's cricket has grown exponentially since I played 30 years ago."

Waratah-Mayfield captain Skye Lovett, 41, has played in the NDCA competition since it began.

"It's great to see the competition growing," Lovett said.

"The quality of cricket has grown heaps and I think that's from a benefit of some of our players going into the Sydney competition as well. They're able to step it up from that exposure.

"It keeps us old ones on our toes having the young ones running around and building on their skills."

Cricket NSW cricket manager Newcastle Leya Wilson is among a number of advocates who have grown the sport for women and girls in Newcastle.

"To see it growing at the rate that it is, and with us now knowing that we can offer a pathway from seven-year-old girls right through to senior cricket and having the first and second grade women's competition, this is what we've been working towards since probably 2016," Wilson said.

"This has just been such a long time coming. I really feel quite satisfied that it's a complete pathway now for girls and women to play cricket.

"We've got someone who moved here from Sri Lanka three years ago and played cricket all her life and is now joining the Newcastle City club. It's connecting women and girls.

"We're seeing girls coming through that are playing women's cricket who were in our very first girls stage one teams back in 2018-19.

"We're seeing girls move straight into women's cricket and having a place to play cricket and being able to stay at their club and belong to the community."

In addition, Newcastle's first Girls Youth League (under 14 to under 18) will be launched at Smith Park on Friday with almost 50 players registered across four franchise-model teams.

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