Despite some new faces and a surprise dismissal, Australia showed no pity, remorse or fear against England in Ashes TestCricket is an organic experience. Players wander around a green field, their day unfolding subject to the vagaries of sun and rain, time and tide. Before the Women’s Ashes Test here, the greenness of the pitch stood out, the freshness of the air, making the England captain, Heather Knight, want to bowl. Then into this pastoral scene came Australia: the rise of the machines.If you’re not up to date with your Terminator references, fair enough. But that describes their style and they followed it again. Win the toss. Bat first. Start piling up runs. Win everything in sight at all costs....
Bowler broke a national record and picked up the prize wicket of Elysse Perry on her first appearance for her countryIt was one of those moments where the needle scratches on the record; when the usual rhythms of red-ball cricket are suddenly altered by a disturbance, prompting backsides on to the edges of seats and eyes to laser in on the action.Things had seemed so sedate too. On a sunny morning at Trent Bridge, as Australia’s mighty women’s team began their multi-format Ashes defence in this one-off Test match, it did not take long for a sense of normal service having resumed. Continue reading...
Alyssa Healy will offer safe pair of hands as captain, plus batting prodigy Phoebe Litchfield has fans ready to tune inThere was a time in the recent history of cricket that the Australian women’s team without Meg Lanning was unthinkable. The idea of playing a pivotal series such as the Ashes without her would have been a major cause for concern. As one of the original awardees of a marketing contract, she has long been a face of women’s cricket in Australia. So, it is not only her incredible prowess on the field that would be missed, but also her ability to raise the sport’s profile by presenting viewers with a recognisable face.However, in the world of women’s sport, things...
Last week England’s brilliant all-rounder said she was taking a break. The women’s game has grown so fast, but at what cost?It’s fine to be sad. It’s fine to cry, even if it seems a little silly because, after all, it’s not like you knew her personally. It’s fine to feel bereft, disorientated, to sense the floor subsiding just a little.Equally, it’s fine to feel nothing at all, perhaps even wonder what all the fuss is about. Though she meant different things to all of us, her loss will touch us all. And with any luck, she’ll be back for the tour of West Indies in December. Continue reading...
It is not simply a special group of players at the top right now, but a seemingly never-ending talent factoryIf you have watched more than a fleeting moment of the Women’s Cricket World Cup over the past month, you will be intimately acquainted with Gin Wigmore’s Girl Gang – the song that accompanies the entry of the teams on to the field each match and plays on a seemingly continuous loop the rest of the time. On the surface it is an upbeat, peppy tune. In the context of the Australian team, though, its lyrics take on a more ominous tone. Suddenly the lines “I got the strength to tear it apart” and “we’re taking over the world” do not...