Bond University’s Emma Taylor didn’t just light up the inaugural UniSport Women’s T20 Championships on the Sunshine Coast, she helped put women’s cricket on the university sport map.
Taylor, who is head coach of the girls’ program at Burleigh Cricket Club and a pace bowler for the Gold Coast Dolphins in grade cricket, harbours ambitions to represent Queensland.
She has been a regular in underage representative teams and was named best and fairest for the Queensland Purple side at the UniSport championships after a dominant campaign in which she was the tournament’s leading wicket taker.
In the final she scored 67 from 50 balls, took two wickets and effected a direct-hit run-out.
Every run and wicket didn’t just boost her team’s tally, it added weight to her greater ambition: seeing women’s cricket become a permanent fixture on the UniSport calendar.
“I’d love to play for Queensland, but I also want to continue coaching the next generation,” she said.
“And I really hope that in the future we can promote UniSport women's cricket to get to a stage where we have University teams competing against each other.
“We have a long road ahead to get to that point, but the fact that the competition is now up and running is a brilliant start.
“I think the biggest thing for women's cricket is promotion, so the more we can spread the word about UniSport and women's cricket in general, the better.”
In the inaugural competition a combined NSW-Victoria University side competed against two Queensland sides – maroon and purple.
Five Bondies were selected to compete, with Elkie Brooks and Johanna Pooranakaran claiming gold for Queensland purple while Taylor and Adel Pheloung and Matiese Wadwell represented maroon.
Taylor, who is studying a double degree in commerce and business at Bond, first picked up a bat when she was nine and has been at the Dolphins since she was 11.
This season she will also lace up for the senior men’s team at Burleigh.
With coaching and playing commitments, her sporting calendar is chock-full, but she insists there will always be time for UniSport tournaments.
“I think the best thing about UniSport is the way it brings people together,” she said.
“I got to play alongside and against girls I’d never met but who share the same passion.
“If we can keep building momentum, I think next year we’ll have even more players signing up. This is just the beginning.”