A major plus of women’s cricket earning a higher profile over the past few years has been building the public platform we now have as players. This isn’t for everyone, but I enjoy forming a view and having my say about the world around us. Especially with social media, it gives us the chance to step outside the usual cricket bubble. During the marriage equality debate, this was especially rewarding.
Of course, platforms such as Twitter can be nasty places, so you have to manage your involvement or it can mess with your health! But I’m no robot. I’m never going to put Cricket Australia into a position where they might be slammed due to something that I say, but having a go is a big part of what makes me who I am.
This came to mind during the week we visited Buckingham Palace on one of our rare days off. We barely get any time in the big smoke when we tour England – most of our games are played at county grounds – so this was a real treat. The royal family seem like good people trying to use their privilege to do the right thing, but it does jar for me that the head of a family in a castle on the other side of the world remains our head of state in 2019. It makes complete sense to me that we become a republic.
In doing so, I hope Australia can move forward in a whole range of areas, especially the way we officially appreciate our Indigenous history. It’s just ridiculous to me that we have a union jack on our flag but no reference to our Aboriginal people, and the date of Australia Day has to change.
On the field, it was a frustrating Test match at Taunton. We meant what we said about doing what we could to win but there just wasn’t enough time. It’s tough that we aren’t given the best conditions when we get to play a game of red-ball cricket every second year – especially when there is so much riding on it and then we lose two sessions to rain. Motty, our coach, said we should play Tests over five days, not four. I completely agree.
It annoys me when people say there is no incentive for women to play more Test cricket when it is only more Tests that will start to make it normal and improve the standard. It’s obvious to me that the greater investment made, the more everyone will get out of it – players, fans and administrators. The best way to do this would be for all of our series to follow the multi-format model. It’s a really interesting way to play a series.
Moving now into the T20s – my favourite format – the major focus is finishing what we have started over here and getting the job done in this mini-series as well. It doesn’t feel like long ago that we won the World T20 in the West Indies last November, and we have another World Cup in that format, at home too, next February and March. Doing all we can to win at home in a huge, global final at the MCG is a big deal for us.
In the short term, we would also love nothing more than to beat England at the ground they call Fortress Chelmsford – a venue where they have never lost an international. We know how rowdy it is down there with the huge crowds they draw for women’s cricket. It’s the perfect place for the final stretch of this Women’s Ashes tour and begin our preparation to defend the T20 title. I can’t wait.