Kim Dolton – the driving force behind Penrith Cricket Club’s first Women’s teams

Penrith Cricket Club | January 29, 2026

Kim Dolton, the youngest of six children, four of them big brothers, was raised at Chester Hill in a fibro house ‘of the times’, the 60s. It turned out that she, and none of her brothers, would be the cricketer.

At Sefton High School, Kim was encouraged by Patsy May, a teacher who had played for Australia at both softball and cricket. Miss May bowled tidy outswing, and, in 1976 aged 29, played against England at Lord’s, taking the first wicket. Miss May also coached, and one weekend she asked Kim to fill in for her Second Grade team. Kim recalled, ‘I was 13 years old. I packed the culottes (knee-length trousers resembling a skirt) and a polo shirt. We played on an oval near The Oaks at Neutral Bay’.

But it was indoor cricket, the popularity of which surged in the 80s, that would provide Kim and a host of other young women with an opportunity to seek success in the outdoor game. They played the indoor circuit at centres as widespread as St Marys, Girraween, Gladesville and Fairfield.

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‘We were playing six nights a week’, Kim recalled. ‘Maybe it was too much, maybe we were getting a little bored, I don’t know, but a couple of us said, “Why not form a team to play outdoor cricket?”’

And so Kim became the driving force behind the establishment of the first Women’s team at Penrith Cricket Club. She recruited from all the indoor teams and got the numbers. John Rennie and Greg Gavin advised her to seek out Bill Ball for guidance. She did all the paperwork, established the link to the Sydney Women’s Cricket Association, which gave the team Second Grade status, attended the SWCA meetings, organised the registrations, drove the Ford Falcon wagon, ‘packed with girls and gear’ to games.

Kim went on to join the Management Committee at Penrith where her contribution was invaluable. Ray Hudswell said, ‘She made an immediate impact by keeping the rest of us on task. She had the ability to control the testosterone levels within the room and was a delight to work with’.

When she gave birth to a son, David, she took him along to a presentation night. And when David was two months old, the Club presented him with miniature batting gloves and pads. Kim later took her administrative skills to Indoor Soccer. She was a printer by profession with Blacktown Image Print.

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