Although the first recorded women's cricket match was played in Nelson Province in 1886, the sport did not become firmly established until the late 1920s and early 1930s, when competitions were arranged in the four main centres as well as at Wanganui and Invercargill. Since then, for short periods, it has been played at Napier, Matamata, on the West Coast, and, regularly, at Hamilton, Nelson, and Timaru.