This article was first written and published for The Roar.
Throughout the duration of the Women’s Ashes in July this year, plenty of conversations were happening on a global scale about the professionalisation of women’s cricket.
The Australian women dominated the series, winning 12-4 (with England’s only points coming as a result of a drawn Test match and victory in the final T20).
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
It has been just over a week since the final game in the 2019 Women’s Ashes, where Australia celebrated a dominant tournament, taking out the series 12-4.
This was the equal most dominant series win in the multi-format history of the Ashes, with England beating Australia by the same margin in 2013.
This dominance reflects what we have seen from this team on the world stage over the last two years. In that period, the Australian women have lost just six games out of 40 across all formats. Since 2018, the team has only lost three games, and all of them were in T20, the most fickle format of all.
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
Early on Monday morning the sole Test match in the Women’s Ashes was declared a draw in Taunton.
With that declaration, the Australian women’s cricket team can officially celebrate retaining the Ashes with the team holding an 8-2 lead in the series heading into the final format, the three T20Is which will commence on Friday.
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
Tonight the Australian Women’s cricket team re-commence their fight to retain the Ashes when the first (and only) Test begins in Taunton.
Australia head into this Test in a strong position holding a 6-0 lead in the series. For Australia to retain the Ashes, only a draw is required in the Test whereas for England to reclaim the Ashes they need to win the Test – as well as the three T20Is which are still to come.
This article was first written and published for the Roar.
The Australian women’s cricket team have touched down in the United Kingdom ahead of their 2019 Ashes defence, which begins on 2 July.
The Ashes was last contested in 2017, Australia retaining the urn after the series ended in a draw, with both teams finishing on eight points.
Ellyse Perry scoring 213* at North Sydney Oval in the stand-alone Test was the stand-out moment of the series for many.
This article was first written and published for The Roar.
On Monday some announcements were made in the women’s cricket space which will result in the biggest shake up I have seen since I started closely following the game.
Let’s begin with the WBBL where it was announced on Monday that Nicola Carey has signed with the Hobart Hurricanes for WBBL05.
This article was first written and published for The Roar.
Words matter, and this week, Australian cricketer James Faulkner was reminded of just how visible his words are.
On Monday evening, Faulkner shared a post on Instagram where he was photographed with his mum and what has subsequently been revealed to be his roommate.
The caption when it was first shared featured a reference to his “boyfriend” and – for good measure – Faulkner added some love heart emojis in there too.
This article was first written and published for The Roar.
A couple of weeks ago I met someone at a function. From the outset it was clear that we both had a mutual interest in sport, particularly cricket.
He asked me who my favourite Australian cricketer was.
This article was first written and published by the Roar.
This Sunday, the Australian women’s cricket team will play in their final game for the summer when they take on the New Zealand White Ferns in game three of the Rose Bowl series.
It’s been an exceptionally successful series for the Aussie women, who reclaimed the Rose Bowl trophy with their 95-run win over New Zealand last Sunday and continued their dominance over the White Ferns in this format (Australia have held the trophy without interruption since 2000).
While the team has been successful, it would be remiss not to mention some impressive individual performances and milestones.
This article was first written and published for the Roar.
While there are times when our major sporting codes are in competition with each other for fans, sponsorship dollars and media attention, for the most part, I believe that our codes have an opportunity to work together, learn from each other and share ideas to benefit the sports-loving Australian public.
When our codes come together on an issue, it is exceptionally powerful. There was a good example of that this week when 17 of Australia’s leading sporting organisations came together to release a plan about working towards equal pay for elite female athletes.