A family affair for the Bears
The Bears’ Women’s Second Grade Round 4 win over St George-Sutherland was a family affair, with two mother-daughter pairs on the field, two dads coaching and one managing the team!
The match was a tense affair, with the Bears chasing down 169 7 wickets down in the final over, thanks to an unbroken partnership of 36 between the two mums, Bernadette Robson (46*) and Anu Raj (16*) on Second Grade debut). Earlier, Kayla Robson made 51 and Anu’s daughter, Varada Vinay, took 1/23 in her 10 overs. The star for the Bears with the ball was Lavena Rampal, who took 2/9 off 7 overs.
After the excitement of the close win died down, the parents and daughters took the opportunity to celebrate the team's first victory of the season and snap a few photos to commemorate the occasion.
Robbie and Abbey Aitken
Abbey doubling up as the scorer in the Bears' innings against against St George-Sutherland
As a player, Robbie Aitken needs no introduction (the only player to have made 500 First Grade appearances nationally, for a start), but he’s been part of our women’s coaching staff for several years and is our Second Grade coach this season. His younger daughter, Abbey, is a key member of the side and gives nothing away with her spin, having already picked up 8 wickets at 20.
Bernadette and Kayla Robson
In their fourth season with the Bears, Bernie and Kayla have become cornerstones of the club. Kayla is this season’s captain, having played in the two Premiership-winning Second Grade sides as a keeper-batter. Bernie is our Women’s Cricket Manager coordinating operations off the field, and has starred for Third Grade over the last few seasons. This year, she’s stepped up as a Second Grade regular and is currently our top run-scorer with 105 at 52.5.
Anu Raj Vinay, Varada Vinay and Vinay Nair
A local junior, Varada started her Premier Cricket career with Northern District before moving back to the Bears in 2023/24 in our Brewer Shield side. An off-spinning all-rounder, Varada captained Brewers last season and also played in the Second Grade Grand Final. Her mum, Anu, also joined the Bears in 2023 and became a mainstay of our Third Grade team which has reached finals both of the last two seasons. Dad, Vinay, is both an assistant coach and a member of our Women’s Subcommittee, liaising between coaches and administrators.
Vinay and Kristin watch on as the Bears take on St George-Sutherland
Kristin and Lily Hancock
Our Women’s Club Captain, Lily is in her fourth season as a Bear, having joined to play Brewer Shield in 2022/23. She is the wicketkeeper for our Second Grade side and featured in the team in both the last two seasons, including in the 2024 Grand Final. Dad, Kristin, is in his second consecutive season as Team Manager, ensuring everything runs smoothly off the field.
Not pictured are Sharon Julien (opening bat and leg-spinner) and dad, Julien Prem (Assistant Coach), Sam Williams (seam bowling all-rounder) and dad, Mark (Subcommittee member and PlayHQ guru) – and all the parent/child duos across Third Grade and Brewer Sheild. We’re very fortunate to have so many Bears families!
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