Australia's women cricketers flourish away from mess created by men
In the middle of 2017, as Australian cricket’s pay dispute punched holes in relationships across the sport, the national women’s team quietly set about preparing for a World Cup tilt. Signed up on temporary contracts, and put into a very tricky bind, they did their thing and got on with it.
Last Monday, when the cultural review brought the game to its knees in the most dramatic fashion, Meg Lanning’s side set about completing a dominant clean sweep against Pakistan in Malaysia to secure their No 1 ranking in the 20-over game on the cusp of the World T20.
But as the depleted men’s team slides from one loss to the next (with administrators doing much the same) these women could not be more divorced from the mess. To the extent that an unhealthy culture spread from off-field to on, as concluded by The Ethics Centre, it has seemingly bypassed this far healthier dressing room.
As Simon Longstaff put it bluntly in the report’s opening statement, Australian cricket has “stumbled badly” upon losing its balance. He continued: “The reputation of the game of cricket, as played by men, has been tainted. Women’s cricket remains unaffected.” Later in the document, a CA board member added: “We talk a lot about How We Play – and making our fans proud – but this does not practically translate for the male players and their coaching staff. The women’s team get it – and are great ambassadors for the spirit of cricket.”
“It wasn’t the best of times,” attack leader Megan Schutt notes of when the review dropped before flying to the Caribbean for the World T20. “But we are really good at focusing on what we are doing. Last year we were on tour for the World Cup when the whole MoU dispute was going and we were getting chucked all these questions from the media about it but I think we are really good at brushing off the bad stuff.”
From the South Australian’s perspective, the 25-year-old sees her elevation to the state captaincy as perfect timing to serve as an on-field leader after such a damaging year. “Obviously cricket is going through a bit of a rebuilding phase at the moment,” she says. “So if you want to you can really make your mark in cricket and try and leave a bit of a legacy. We are all contributing to leaving a really good environment behind.”
After falling short in their 50-over
World Cup defence a year after coughing up the 20-over crown – a campaign derailed in the semi-finals by an Indian outfit who played as though they had little to lose – it meant the Australians were without a piece of ICC silverware for the first time since 2009. Pat Howard, CA’s high-performance boss, was furious and let them know about it. But instead of panicking about the loss of Australia’s traditional supremacy, coach Matthew Mott sourced inspiration in the freedom of others.
“Those couple of World Cup exits where we weren’t playing that fearless cricket was a bit of an eye-opener,” he said. “It made us more determined to get that right and you can see people from the outside are making the comment that the freedom the players are now playing with.”
Hitting fast forward, the new home season began with the best possible broadcast window to show sports fans around the country this new brand of joyful cricket: a T20 against New Zealand telecast on the Seven Network immediately after the AFL grand final. Combined with the excellent #WATCHME advertising campaign employed by CA, and it was palpable the extent to which the team had their mojo back compared to that World Cup.
“The team is in a really great place,” Alyssa Healy put it, the opener now flourishing and in the form of her life. Another mainstay of the top order, Elyse Villani, has also lauded the distinct ego-free gameplan that the side has signed up to in order to push for success in the West Indies this month. Expect more of the same. Team spirit is a bit like momentum in that it is hard to define but easy to identify. These women have it, in droves, at the perfect time.
Of course, it is too simplistic to say that the blokes can learn a few lessons from Mott, Lanning and co. But one thing seems certain: whether or not they win the World T20 title, this team will, in their own content and smiley way, put on a show that they will be proud of. As a starting point, it’s hard to fault.