Spending three hours on the road after a day in the field is just one small part of Claire Koski's hectic summer that takes her to five different teams across the eastern states.
She wouldn't change a thing – "it gets boring otherwise".
Ginninderra’s Claire Koski likes to keep busy.
Credit:Jamila Toderas
The 27-year-old likes to keep herself busy when she isn't playing for the ACT Meteors in the WNCL, the WBBL's Melbourne Renegades, or completing her exercise science degree.
She is preparing to turn out for the Ginninderra Tigers in the Cricket ACT Gallop Cup against North Canberra-Gungahlin at Kippax Oval on Saturday.
Straight after stumps she will jump in the car and make the trek to Sydney to play for the Campbelltown-Camden Ghosts. But even then, having to remember the names of four sets of teammates isn't enough.
"I also play for Prahran down in Melbourne as well, so I’ll play a couple of games for them before we start the Big Bash season," Koski said.
"Over the last two weeks we’ve been rained off in Sydney so it hasn’t been too hard. This weekend we should get up in Sydney, so it will be a bit of a trip this Saturday evening after the game."
A host of Meteors players have begun to infiltrate Cricket ACT's men's competition in recent seasons after Kira Churchland's historic debut with Weston Creek Molonglo.
That has ramped up this season after Cricket ACT chief executive and ex-Meteors coach James Allsopp decided to strengthen links between the WNCL outfit and the local scene.
Koski made her first grade debut for the Tigers last week to follow the likes of Erin Osborne at Tuggeranong, with Angela Reakes splitting her time between Weston Creek Molonglo and the Sydney competition.
Katie Mack is playing premier cricket for Tuggeranong while Meteors prospect Tilly Lugg will keep wicket for ANU's fourth grade team this weekend.
Claire Koski and Erin Osborne have both played first grade in Canberra.Credit:Lawrence Atkin
"[Allsopp] was pretty keen on us playing a bit down here just to have a bit more competitiveness, some of the games up in Sydney aren’t always up to standard," Koski said.
"I think he just wanted to prepare us as best as he could for WNCL this year. It’s been great, the boys have actually been really good and receptive.
"In the first game I played last week I didn't really expect them to be so receptive to any of my ideas out in the field, but they were great and very supportive. It was a really nice environment to be around.
"The other part is, boys tend to struggle a bit in that they want to make sure I’m included. It’s simple things like in the field, they go ‘let’s go boys and girl’.
"I try to put them at ease and tell them they don’t have to worry too much about that when we’re out on the field. We’re all one team so I don’t need to be singled out."
Koski will continue to play for the Tigers until she joins the Renegades in mid-November following the second round of WNCL fixtures, which will see the Meteors host Victoria and Western Australia at Manuka Oval on November 9 and 11.
Meanwhile, ANU's Dan Leerdam has been selected to captain an ACT squad in a trial match against Southern Zone at Freebody Oval on Sunday, with the cream of the crop to be chosen in an ACT/Southern squad for the NSW country championships in November.
CRICKET ACT GALLOP CUP ROUND 3
Saturday: Ginninderra v North Canberra-Gungahlin at Kippax Oval, ANU v Queanbeyan at ANU North Oval, Western District-UC v Weston Creek Molonglo at Jamison Oval, Eastlake v Tuggeranong Valley at Kingston Oval. All matches at 11am.
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