As a junior, Australia cricket captain Meg Lanning played with and against boys and idolised Ricky Ponting, because she was only exposed to watching men play cricket.

On International Women's Day, the best female batter in the world is being idolised by a new generation of cricket talent.

Number of new female teams ACT - 7

ACT - 7 NSW - 165

NSW - 165 NT - 11

NT - 11 QLD - 54

QLD - 54 SA - 47

SA - 47 TAS - 37

TAS - 37 VIC - 139

VIC - 139 WA - 64 (Provided by Cricket Australia)

Thanks to a $4 million investment by Cricket Australia over four years, more and more girls are taking up the game and for the first time more are able to play with and against other girls.

Less than a year after the Growing Cricket For Girls Fund was introduced, 524 girls teams have joined 46 new all-girls cricket competitions.

"It has been pretty common that girls played in boys teams over time and a lot of the girls in the state and national set-ups have come through playing in boys teams," South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) market and community engagement officer Luke van Kempen said.

"All our research is telling us that girls like to play sport with their friends and they like to play it in an environment that is inclusive and welcoming.

"It's an area that's not without its challenges but the community it seems has a great appetite for cricket and for girls' sport in general."

Young girls across Australia have more exposure to women's cricket than ever before. ( Supplied: Michelle Cooling )

Mr van Kempen said SACA had worked hard to fill the identified gap in competition for girls aged between 12 and 18 and had targeted building the number of schools that offer girls-only cricket programs.

"Overall there's 32,000 girls playing cricket in South Australia from our entry level programs to our schools competitions to elite cricket and indoor cricket," he said.

"Last year there were 22,000 girls playing cricket in those areas so what we're doing is increasing the opportunities for girls to play cricket in that 12 to 18 year-old range."

SACA has had particular success in regional areas, including in South Australia's mid-north region, centred around Port Pirie, where a "well supported" competition has been attracting high participation.