Blackwell, who retired from international cricket earlier in the year, was the special guest at the Riverina Blues Awards in Wagga.

Blackwell was thrilled to see Ganmain’s Kaitlin Logan and Wagga’s Josh Staines, both cricketers, take out the two major awards.

“We see great cricketers come from country areas, that’s both male and female cricketers,” Blackwell said.

“It’s great to see from this region there are a number of female cricketers emerging and taking advantage of the increased opportunities in the sport now for women and girls.

“Kaitlin is going to captain (the NSW) side so we don’t just have the best cricketers, or a couple of the best cricketers coming from this region, we’ve got the best young leaders as well.

“I think that’s what stood out most for me, is the leadership qualities of the young people from the Riverina. They’re extremely polite when they come up an say hello. It’s a credit to their schools, also their families but also the sporting communities that they’re apart of. Fostering great people skills, not just sporting skills.

“It’s amazing to see the sporting talent in the region, from Wagga, Albury, Gundagai, Ganmain, all over. There’s people from all over the place doing great things in sport, their parents are here as well, who should be acknowledged for the kilometres they cover to take their kids to sport in regional NSW.

“I’m blown away by the incredible achievements of the young people in this region.”

Blackwell, who hails from Yenda, is as busy as she has ever been despite her retirement from international cricket.

She captains Sydney Thunder in the WBBL and juggles that commitment with commentating and her new position on the Cricket NSW board. 

She also recently coached Lancashire Thunder in the English women’s Twenty20 competition.

“I’m as busy as ever, and more connected to the game of cricket than I’ve ever been before,” she said.

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