In recent seasons, the real success story of Bay of Plenty Cricket is the development of the women's game.

The key to the success has been the development of girls' cricket pathway.

A further step is being put in place in the pathway with the inaugural Girls Cricket Mini Rainbow World Cup taking place at the BOP Cricket Oval and Blake Park at Mount Maunganui today.

The concept behind the latest pathway initiative is to introduce Year 5-6 girls to the game.

In order to attract the girls, with a number who will be picking up bat and ball for the first time, a fun element is introduced.

The school teams, which will field eight players a side, will each select a colour from the rainbow and dress-up highlighting the selected colour.

Two schools from the Eastern Bay of Plenty and a school apiece from Rotorua and Taupo, will join eight Western Bay schools on the day.

Assisting with encouragement and enthusiasm will be three Northern Spirit players. White Fern Nicola Brown will have Bay of Plenty resident Anna Petersen and Rhiana Vincent to highlight where the women's cricket pathway can lead.

The new initiative to develop the girls' game in the Bay of Plenty slots in just below the Milo Shield competition for intermediate schools.

A further pathway step is in place in term one with a mid-week secondary schoolgirls competition.

The establishment of the women's pathway has paid real dividends in the current season, with two Bay of Plenty teams winning Northern Districts titles.

The Bay Junior Secondary Schoolgirls side convincingly defeated Poverty Bay in the ND final played in Rotorua to win the championship trophy with an unbeaten record.

Further accolades came to the Bay side with the selection of Jacinata Coleman, Kate Anderson, Jo Tarris and Piki Tai in the ND Representative team, selected at the conclusion of the tournament.

The supreme success in Bay of Plenty Cricket in the current season came when the Bay of Plenty Senior Women's team won the ND Women's Championship for the first time. After season long round robin competition, they defeated Hamilton in a thrilling final stanza to lift aloft the ND silverware for the first time.

BOP Cricket Girls Mini Rainbow World Cup

Wednesday, March 30 at the BOP Cricket Oval and Blake Park, Mount Maunganui commencing 10am.