This article was first written for and published by the Roar.
speak with Belinda Vakarewa a couple of hours before she is due to board a plane from Tasmania to the Brisbane bubble to join the remainder of her teammates from the Australian women’s cricket team ahead of the upcoming series against New Zealand.
After a year like no other, Vakarewa is excited about the prospect of joining her teammates and just playing some cricket.
This article was first written for and published by the Roar.
Given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, sports fans have become used to the postponing of events.
But when it comes to cricket, recent decisions do not make sense.
Last week, the ICC made a number of key announcements about upcoming tournaments.
This article was first written for and published by the Roar.
On Sunday 8 March 2020, I was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with 86,173 other people to watch the Australian Women’s Cricket team beat the Indian Women’s Cricket Team by 85 runs in the final of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup.
It was a hugely momentous day for women’s sport, setting a new world record for the highest ever attendance at a women’s cricket match and showing the world what is possible when appropriate investment is made.
This article was first written for and published by the Roar.
It has been just over a week since Australia were named ICC T20 Women’s World Cup champions after defeating India in the final by 85 runs in front of 86,174 fans at the MCG.
The day had several unforgettable moments. Alyssa Healy signalling her intention for her batting innings, hitting Shikha Pandey’s first delivery of the match to the boundary. Beth Mooney’s remarkable innings of 78 from 54 balls, setting a new record for the highest score in a women’s T20 World Cup final. A visibly pregnant Katy Perry entertaining the crowd before the match started, surrounded by giant lipstick-wearing cricket bats and imagery that screamed girl power.
The ICC T20 Women’s World Cup starts this Friday night in Sydney with the opening match between Australia and India at the Sydney Showground at 7pm.
If I had to describe the way the T20 World Cup organising committee have approached this tournament and its organisation, I would use the word bold for a variety of reasons.
This article was first written for and published by the Roar.
In December last year when the Sydney Thunder WBBL team concluded their campaign with a loss to the Melbourne Renegades, cricket fans knew they were saying farewell to one legend of the game in Alex Blackwell.
A guard of honour was formed by the players for Blackwell to walk through. But to the surprise of some, Blackwell was not the only player to walk through that guard of honour.
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
On Thursday morning the Australian squad was announced for the upcoming T20 Tri-Series and ICC T20 Women’s World Cup, set to begin on 21 February in Sydney and with games across the country.
On paper the squad is extremely impressive, particularly when you consider what some of the women in this squad were able to achieve last year.
This article was first written for and published by the Roar.
For the first time in several years cricketers participating in the WBBL had a welcome break over Christmas.
In previous years the WBBL has coincided with the BBL and run over Christmas. This year, with the first-ever standalone tournament, the competition concluded in early December and meant that for our Australian women’s cricket team in particular there was some well-deserved downtime over Christmas after a very busy and successful 2019.
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
As 2019 draws to a close, there were plenty of big moments to celebrate in the women’s sport space.
But given that we are witnessing a revolution in women’s sport at the moment, there is plenty to look forward to in 2020. Here are some suggestions for events you should put in your calendar for next year and start getting excited about.
Some are just around the corner.
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
It all comes down to this weekend for the Brisbane Heat, Adelaide Strikers, Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Renegades.
By Sunday afternoon we will know who the champions are for WBBL05 after two blockbuster semi-finals on Saturday and the final on Sunday.