Right: Teenaged Pakenham Upper cricketer Ruth Bardwell has been selected for the Victorian under 15 women’s team after impressing in recent trial games.By Brad Kingsbury
BARDWELL is a familiar name to Pakenham Upper-Toomuc Cricket Club (PUT) followers and it is about to become even more famous after selection of the Victorian under 15 women’s team recently.
Yabbies 14-year-old all rounder Ruth Bardwell has won a cap in the under-15 team and will represent the state at the Australian championships in December.
Ruth has been playing cricket for seven years and comes from a cricket-mad Pakenham Upper family with her three siblings Josh, Kylie and Elizabeth also playing for Yabbies teams.
They follow in the footsteps of their father Matt who finished his distinguished career with the club.
While teenaged brother Josh plays with the junior and A-grade team, the three girls play with the PUT women’s side on Sundays.
Ruth and Elizabeth, 13, also line up for the Yabbies under-14 Brown side on Saturday.
Off the field Ruth is a typically shy teenager, but on it she is a keen and dedicated competitor whose ability with bat and ball impressed selectors at the recent trial games in Melbourne, resulting in state selection.
Elizabeth also attended the state trials and Ruth said it was a thrill to receive the letter informing of her selection.
“It was great when I got it and we play our (state) games at Waverley and it’s the same ground my dad played on years ago,” she said.
Ruth, who opens the batting and is a tear-away fast bowler for Pakenham Upper-Toomuc, is coached by her father and is proud of the family’s cricketing heritage.
She will be coached at state level by Rebecca Brown and will take on opponents including South Australia, New South Wales and Canberra in the tournament.
Yabbies press co-respondent Martin Blake said all at the club were proud of Ruth’s achievement, but it had not come as any great surprise.
“Her ability is no secret at Yabbieland and we’re confident she will acquit herself well,” he said.
He said cricket club members would join her family in supporting the rising star during the championships.
