Seven years ago, a young couple, filled with enthusiasm about setting up their new home in Australia, boarded a one-way flight from India. One a cricket tragic and the other, not so much. The tragic, of course, was me. One of the few things I brought from India was a used leather ball from my school days.
On our very first weekend here, my wife joined me on a pilgrimage to Bowral, home of Sir Don Bradman. She may not quite understand how a game can last five days and still end in a draw, but she’s always supported my cricket obsession with good humour and generosity. Cricket has underpinned my whole life. It has shaped friendships, sparked debates, and has now become a platform for my ambitions for our daughters. Together with my wife, I nurse a quiet dream that one day they’ll wear the green and gold for Australia.
Nikhil Kulkarni with his daughter Neeti, 6, at the gates to SCG. He is teaching his daughter how to play and sharing his love of the game.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Last summer, my six-year-old daughter Neeti and I participated in the Daughters and Dads Cricket program at the Cricket NSW facility in Silverwater, Sydney. Developed by Professor Philip Morgan at the University of Newcastle, the program mixes cricket skills with playful activities that get dads and daughters moving together.
Research shows it lifts skills, boosts engagement, and makes it far more likely girls will stay in the game. My daughter loved the program. She learned to bowl and play a neat pull shot, but the real win was watching her grow more confident and resilient. Since then, most weekends we play in the backyard — and she’s already asking to join cricket practice this summer. I couldn’t be happier.
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My daughters will have my full support in whatever sport they choose, for as long as they want to play. But what I see in my backyard isn’t the norm. Across Australia, girls are leaving sport long before their teens. It’s like being given out before even taking guard — losing the chance to build the confidence, skills, and leadership that shape success in sport and in life.
A 2023 Deloitte study found 85 per cent of women leaders say playing sport was essential to their career success. Yet the numbers for girls’ participation tell a different story. The Australian Sports Commission 2024 reports only 36 per cent of girls aged 0-14 play organised sport outside school each week.
Cricket is not a popular sport among girls but dads can pass on their love of the game while connecting with their daughters.Credit: iStock
Flinders University research shows girls drop out of sport in their teens at far higher rates than boys. In cricket, a favourite in Australia’s multicultural communities, especially those from South Asia, just 25,000 girls aged 5-12 play. One would imagine that figure to be far higher, given how deeply cricket runs through these communities. Cricket Australia’s goal is to lift that to 100,000 by 2034. If we don’t act now, too many girls will miss their shot at success.
