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Joined August 2018
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The 2023 recipient of the Seven Network's David Leckie Media Scholarship program. Currently working as a sports media graduate at Channel Seven, with a long-term goal to enter the cricket commentary box one day. All views and opinions expressed in my written work are my own.
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As Warner exits the Test match arena, lovers of the game wonder how they will remember this entertaining yet divisive and antagonistic cricketer.
It could not have come at a better time. Cricket may be far away from the minds of every Sri Lankan right now but…
With only two wins on the board approaching the halfway stage of the season, GWS have made some drastic changes with the appointing of…
Inspired by a unique idea that first occurred in the 2007 Super League, when all 12 teams played at the Millennium Stadium in Wales…
Australia has been well-represented in this year’s Indian Premier League, with up to 16 Aussies playing in the 15th edition of the world’s most…
If you look at the current ICC World Test Championship rankings, an unlikely contender has discreetly risen to the top of the table and…
It would always end this way, wouldn’t it? A wicket off the final ball of his stellar ODI career, does it get any more…
This game can be so cruel. A boundary count to determine a winner from a tied match? Enough has been said about that already.…
Pakistan will look to force their way into the top four at the Cricket World Cup as they take on Afghanistan. Join The Roar…
The rain gods are looking favourably on this one. With a top of 18 degrees and pockets of sunshine expected, as well as less…
Sri Lanka will be dreaming of getting their first ever World Cup win over Pakistan when the two sides go head to head on…
Sri Lanka is hurting. Its beautiful people continue to live in much agony, pain, frustration and fear. As the struggling island nation tries to…
The series won, Australia will look to build momentum towards the World Cup with another win tonight as they meet Pakistan in the fourth…
On most occasions, a visit to the MCG would imply viewing a spectacle of a sporting nature, ideally cricket or Australian rules football. However,…
Haven’t we just had this? Australia will once again take on the world number one team, but this time on their own turf. Always…
Match result: A late collapse from the Melbourne Stars has seen the Melbourne Renegades snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and win over…
Match result: A Kurtis Patterson maiden century was the highlight of Day 2 at Manuka Oval, and after declaring Australia were able to take…
The Melbourne Renegades will hope to get their first ever win in Western Australia when they travel to face the Perth Scorchers on Monday…
It’s another balmy, hot and humid day here in Brisbane. Feels a lot like the beautiful Galle Face beach back in Colombo to be…
Hope is a beautiful thing. In a lacklustre Test match that ended in just over two and a half days, both Australia and Sri…
I’m pretty sure I kept a balanced argument. Cricket still has a long way to go on many socio-economic and political factors, not just in the women’s game. To explain that would require me to go into detail that may turn this into a phD report. I thought it was appropriate to highlight this aspect though simply because cricket has done a lot to tackle these issues, and also because I was quite inspired and uplifted by the International womens day event I attended at the MCG.
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
and you know what Aligee, I’ll be honest and transparent with you. Even I initially thought women’s cricket was a bit of a funny and weird concept. Even I held very sexist and patronising attitudes towards it.
No one cares about women’s cricket, I said. It lacks intensity, I mocked. Nobody wants to watch girls play the gentleman’s game, it’s not competitive enough, I jeered.
But how wrong, naive and insensitive I was. After digging deep and doing a bit of research I realised we ought to elevate and promote the women’s game almost at the same level as the guys. Cricket was initially seen as a women’s game did you know that? and you know what’s even more incredible? They often played at an intensity and excitement that matched the guys.
Here’s an excerpt from the British newspaper The Mercury that reported on that women’s cricket match back in 1745. They literally said
“The greatest cricket match that was played in this part of England was on Friday, the 26th of last month, on Gosden Common, near Guildford, between eleven maids of Bramley and eleven maids of Hambledon, all dressed in white. The girls bowled, batted, ran and catches as well as most men could do in that game.”
What this shows is that our women always had the capacity, tenacity and the skill levels to play an attractive, exciting and entertaining brand of cricket right throughout history. We just simply haven’t given them a decent chance to flourish. And thankfully now, it has been realised. The biggest thanks must in fact go to Australia who have gone to great lengths to promote the women’s game more than most other cricket playing nations.
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
Glad to hear it mate. Education and awareness is what I’m all about
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
Thanks for your support JD! Yeah disappointing to see so much negativity in the comments when I was trying to showcase a positive and enlightening aspect of our summer game. It is what it is though.
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
Absolute Duncan Smith I am totally on board with you. Both genders can be just as evil as each other. Yet why aren’t we seeing it in women’s cricket?
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
Duncan Smith you clearly haven’t heard my Sri Lankan mother talking shit to her friends on the phone. My mother sledges everyone hahaha! Women can be just as ruthless as men my friend, they just choose less public avenues to display it.
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
It goes both ways Aligee. We could be here all day on a fact-finding mission trying to outdo each other aggressively arguing as to whether which gender has it worse. The point of this article is simply to highlight the good things women’s cricket has done for the game and that all of us, regardless of male or female, should celebrate and embrace it.
Don’t you think it’s kind of cool and slightly dumbfounding that a woman invented the art of over-arm bowling? or that the first cricket world cup was a women’s one? If you’re a true cricket lover you would be amazed by this.
A strong masculine man should never feel threatened or shocked by a woman’s achievements. We should in fact laud and encourage them to prosper more. I suggest you watch a movie called ‘Hidden Figures’ to see just how badly women have been marginalised in the past even though they worked in industries where their intellect, work experience and education background was far superior to the male colleagues who worked with them.
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
I was wondering when we would see an uneducated comment or two doused in fragile masculinity. That wasn’t the main point of the article at all mate. If women were as ‘bad’ as the men on the cricket field I would be the first to call it out. ‘Unfortunately’ (lol) it hasn’t been the case at all.
Last time I checked it was three blokes who decided to tamper with a cricket ball in South Africa. Three blokes that a lot of young kids in this great land of ours looked up to as role models and heroes. Let that sink in for a minute.
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
Didn’t know we had to be biased towards social inclusion and embracing women’s cricket. Strange world we live in, isn’t it?
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
Wouldn’t have a clue mate, perhaps you could publish an eloquent article on that one?
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport
haha that’s all we got these days unfortunately!
A day in the life of a Sri Lankan cricket fan
Cheers Trevine hope you enjoyed the read!
A day in the life of a Sri Lankan cricket fan
Cheers Spanner! Hopefully Lankan cricket will be on the upward curve soon! I can only imagine McGrath would be seething with rage at such nonchalance by Jayasuriya.
A day in the life of a Sri Lankan cricket fan
Spot on Carl! Hope you enjoyed the read haha
A day in the life of a Sri Lankan cricket fan
yeah Lakmal did exceptionally well, but in all honesty I am still not too confident about Sri Lanka’s chances. The batting has been horrible. To me it’s an attitude thing.
The West Indies are hammering England right now because they want to dominate and they want to be aggressive. It’s not the same with Sri Lanka. Their heads drop as soon as there is no wicket for half an hour and the wayward bowling begins. The Canberra pitch should be more suited to what they’re used to back home.
and yes you’re right Australia won this game going at about 80-90% capacity. They still have a few chinks to iron out which were masked well due to the comprehensive nature of this victory. Starc needs to stop spraying the ball everywhere and Khawaja needs to clear his mind.
Australia win at the Gabba on Day 3
Well I didn’t say to remove Viv, my suggestion was to swap Clive Lloyd with Shiv instead.
Who are the five greatest West Indian cricketers of all time?
Hopefully! Kusal Mendis to me would probably be the most likely candidate to get a hundred for Sri Lanka on this tour.
Sri Lankan Test centurions in Australia
You’re joking right?? His stats and record speaks for himself. I feel as though poor Shiv was often hard done by due to his introverted character and personality. He is a quiet achiever who doesn’t like to draw much attention to himself, unlike the others you have mentioned. Hence he gets sidelined often and is forgotten pretty easily. He literally carried the West Indies on his own during their sharp demise in the early-to-mid 2000s. The bloke also didn’t hang up the boots until he was 41 years old, which is almost unheard now of in modern day cricket.
He has a Test match batting average of 51.37 (better than Vivs), 30 Test match hundreds (6 more than Viv) and has even scored the 5th fastest Test match hundred of all time. On top of that, he was awarded the ICC Test match cricketer of the year in 2008 and was even crowned with an honorary doctorate of Laws from the University of the West Indies for his services to cricket.
He may have been an ugly batsman to watch due to his unusual stance but he was bloody effective! I still remember that last ball-six he hit off Chaminda Vaas to win a crucial ODI against Sri Lanka. They literally needed a six off the last ball to win, and Shiv did it. Such were the skills he had.
I would probably replace Clive Lloyd with Shiv if I were you. Shiv was also captain of the West Indies for a time, and I think his leadership carries more weight, as he had to lead a much weaker Windies outfit where as Lloyd had a team of champions. As awesome as Lloyd was I don’t think he’s up there in the ‘legends’ column. He had ‘only’ had a Test match batting average of 46.
Who are the five greatest West Indian cricketers of all time?
Haha no despite being a Sri Lanka fan we are often notoriously well-known for being the most pessimistic sports fans out there my friend. When I was a kid, my father would walk away from the living room if Sangakkara or Jayasuriya were dismissed for a low score, and he would declare that the game was over hahaha.
Even with Sanga, Jayawardene and Herath around Sri Lanka were still pretty useless in Australia. Would be a miracle to see this team pull off a win, because their bowling is chockers. Embarrassing for Australia definitely, but unlikely.
Take Sri Lanka for granted at your peril
LOL well I believe they’re still licking their wounds given this hodge-podge selection of players for the 1st Test. Apologies for the apparently bad metaphorical language use there mate, perhaps I should use a more obvious one next time.
Take Sri Lanka for granted at your peril
Propaganda? Pretty sure I supported each argument and claim with valid and accurate evidence. I do not know you personally but evaluating you purely on your comment I am disappointed that as a potentially ardent cricket fan that you may be, you’ve seen this piece as a direct attack on all of us males.
My purpose for writing this article was not to offend or annoy, but rather to inspire, educate and encourage us all to reflect and appreciate what women have done for the game over the years.
Yes, there have also been numerous accounts of incredible acts of sportsmanship, bravery and camaraderie in men’s cricket. Graeme Smith walking out to bat with a broken hand to save that Test match against Australia in 2008 is one such incident that comes to mind. Despite Mitchell Johnson bowling absolute heat in that spell to poor Graeme Smith, the great Aussie quick later congratulated and paid his respects to the Proteas captain, hailing it as one of the greatest acts of bravery seen on a cricket field.
So JimboJones please do not think that I am oblivious to the amazing acts of humanity and sportsmanship we have witnessed in the men’s game too. It’s just compared to women’s cricket it is few and far between. I’m often impressed and delighted to see how clean and corruption-free the women’s game is, and it is not something we ought to feel threatened or dishevelled by at all. We should in fact, as cricket fans and players, aspire to achieve the levels of sportsmanship and honesty that is so commonly prevalent within the women’s game.
No gender is better or superior to another gender. Cricket is for everyone. However if one group or organisation of players within this institution is displaying a fundamental facet of this game at a higher level than another, then that group ought to look at them for guidance and support. That way we can make the game better for everyone, no matter what level we play.
Why cricket is Australia’s most feminist sport