Vale Coralie Towers

A colossus of the game in WA, Towers promoted women’s cricket at every opportunity both during and after her playing career, which was cut short by a serious knee injury.

Towers started her playing career for Subiaco in season 1952-53 and, remarkably, would go on to represent WA later that season as a teenager.

A talented allrounder, Towers wasted little time making an impact for WA, taking two wickets against Victoria just two days after her 14^th Birthday.

Towers’ state career spanned more than a decade, with notable bowling performances of 7-17 and 6-35 against South Australia in 1965-66, with the match figures of 13-52 remaining the best by WA women’s player. Towers sits alongside Zoë Goss and Marie Jegust as the only women to have taken 10 wickets in a match for WA.

While Towers was predominantly known for her work in WA, she made a brief appearance for Queensland between season 1958-59 and 1960-61 when WA didn’t send a side to the interstate tournament.

It wasn’t just the interstate competition where Towers made a significant on-field contribution either.

Towers helped form a South Perth club to play in the Western Australian Women’s Cricket Association (WAWCA) competition, which would go on to be one of the most successful sides in the competition’s history.

South Perth’s success was largely off the back of Towers’ on-field efforts, where she was the WAWCA competition’s leading wicket taker for 10 consecutive seasons. Her best return was 53 wickets at a remarkable 7.09.

Towers also became the first player in the WAWCA competition to take 50 wickets and make 500 runs in one season.

Such was the quality of her performances in interstate and WAWCA competitions, Towers was selected in the Australian squads of 1958, 1961 and 1963, including tours to New Zealand and England.

Towers continued to play in veteran’s leagues in the 1980s and was a member of the Australian veteran’s team that toured New Zealand in 1980.

While starring in an on-field capacity, Towers was also prolific in a range of off-field roles in the WAWCA competition including as assistant secretary in 1960-61 and 1961-62 and being part of the Grounds, Fixtures and Fundraising committee from 1960 to 1970.

Towers then oversaw the implementation of the secondary schoolgirl’s competition in 1965, which formed the basis of the underage competitions currently running in WA.

She would also go on to become a selector of the WA open age team for season 1966-67 and from 1976 to 1978, before becoming a selector of the WA under 21 side in season 1980-81.

WA Cricket sends its deepest condolences to the Towers family.