Former Australia batter Nicole Bolton has stirred up a storm on social media after revealing her then-Australia head coach Cathryn Fitzpatrick used a disparaging comparison with Mithali Raj to spur her on.
Bolton, who retired from all forms of cricket in November 2022, played 55 international games for Australia, including 50 ODIs. Having made her debut in January 2014, the Western Australia star moved to Victoria for the 2014/15 season, where she carried forward her one-day form from the previous year when she had amassed 371 runs at an average of 61.83.
In her first List A game for Victoria, against South Australia, she made 112* in 143 balls and followed it up with a 68-ball 35 and a knock of 43 in 69 deliveries. Though she was amongst the runs, Bolton reveals how a conversation with Fitzpatrick, where she compared her scoring rate to Mithali’s, made her realise her efforts were “not good at all”.
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Bolton: If this is how she sees me, my career is going to be short-lived
Bolton, who was yet to cement a place in the national side then, realised she had to change her intent while batting if she wanted a successful career with the team.
She recounted a chat with Fitzpatrick, who played 109 ODIs for Australia, on the Stories After Stumps podcast: “For so long, I was just trying to impress her [Fitzpatrick]. I was just trying to get her to see me. And, I just remember, she called me into her office to have a chat. And she was like, ‘Do you honestly want to be the Mithali Raj of the Australia Cricket Team?’ And I was like, ‘Mithali Raj?’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, do you honestly want to strike at 50? It’s okay if you get 100 but the team still loses and you get 100 off 150 balls?’ And I was, ‘Woah, Shit! This is how Cathryn Fitzpatrick sees me. That’s not good at all. If this is how she sees me, my career is going to be pretty short-lived.’
“She sort of said to me, ‘Why can’t you be like Meg Lanning or Elyse Villani? That’s how we want you to play’.”
Bolton seemed to have taken her coach’s words seriously - the very next game she played, against Tasmania, she made an unbeaten 170 in 156 balls with 24 boundaries at the top of the order.
Overall, Bolton played a total of 50 ODIs, making 1,896 runs at a strike rate of 72.31. She played her last 50-over game in 2019.
Mithali: Considered a torch-bearer of women's cricket
Bolton's comments haven't ingratiated her with cricket fans in India, where Mithali is one of the country's most prominent sportswomen. Regarded as the torch-bearer of women’s cricket, the former India skipper made 7,805 ODI runs in 232 games with seven hundreds and 64 fifties throughout a glittering career of 23 years. No other women’s cricketer has made as many runs in the format, played as many matches or hit more fifties than Mithali.
She also led India in 155 ODIs, the most any skipper has led their team in women’s ODIs. She was also named Wisden's Leading Woman Cricketer in 2017.
Mithali also made 699 Test runs and 2,364 runs in the shortest format and has been credited with revolutionising the sport, motoring on despite limited facilities, infrastructure and recognition for more than half of her playing career.
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