Ashleigh Gardner: ‘My culture is my identity’ – Wisden Almanack

The Five Cricketers of the Year represent a tradition that dates back in Wisden to 1889, making this the oldest individual award in cricket. The Five are picked by the editor, and the selection is based, primarily but not exclusively, on the players’ excellence in and/or influence on the previous English season. No one can be chosen more than once.

When the hammer came down for Ashleigh Gardner at the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction in Mumbai in February 2023, it confirmed two things: she was one of the hottest properties in the game and, after pocketing over £300,000, her life would never be quite the same. Gardner, who had attracted the joint-highest bid for an overseas player – alongside England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt – was in the middle of the T20 World Cup in South Africa that would finish with Australia lifting the trophy for the third consecutive time. With 110 runs at 36, and 10 wickets at 12, she was Player of the Tournament.

While the financial boon of the WPL was, says Gardner, “life-changing for female players”, it was success with the national side that provided most satisfaction. She was an integral part of the Australian team that retained the Ashes in England in July, and Player of the Match in the Test, at Nottingham. A first-innings 40 was followed by a display of canny off-spin, with four wickets – all in the top five – in the England reply. But it was her performance in defence of a target of 268 that proved crucial. After England had raced to 55-0, her first delivery had Tammy Beaumont, a first-innings double-centurion, caught at slip. In her second over, she induced a misjudged pull from Sciver-Brunt, who fell for a duck. In her third, she produced sharp turn to trap Heather Knight. Gardner continued to tear through England’s line-up and, when she rapped the front pad of a sweeping Danni Wyatt, she had figures of 8-66, and Australia an 89-run victory. Both the innings and match analyses (12-165) were national records, and the second-best in all women’s Tests.

“Winning another World Cup in South Africa was one of my favourite memories of the year,” says Gardner. “But having a real impact on winning that Test in England was certainly a great achievement. I love bowling as many overs as I can, and taking wickets. But, for me, it’s about enjoying being out in the field, and playing a sport I love.” Nine wickets, plus 95 runs off 85 balls, in the three one-day internationals that rounded off the multiformat Ashes confirmed her consistency, and she finished her northern summer against Ireland in Dublin with a powerful 65 off 39 and, in the next game, 3-38.

ASHLEIGH KATHERINE GARDNER was born on April 15, 1997, in Sydney. She grew up in the suburb of Picnic Point, in the city’s south-west, and excelled at numerous sports, developing a love for cricket by watching her father, Jim, and older brother, Aaron. “My brother was one of my biggest role models growing up,” she says. “I wanted to do everything he was doing, so being able to see that from a young age, and having the Australian women’s team to look up to, as well as the men’s team, which I watched plenty of throughout my younger years, are some of my fondest memories.”

As an Indigenous Australian through her mother Katherine’s Muruwari heritage, Gardner’s outstanding performances during the 2014/15 Imparja Cup – the national Indigenous tournament held annually in Alice Springs – earned her a state contract at the age of 17, when still at high school. She made her 50-over debut for New South Wales the following summer, and joined Sydney Sixers in the inaugural season of the Women’s Big Bash League. Her all-round skills – she is also one of the sharpest fielders in the game – saw her named Young Gun of the WBBL’s second edition, when the Sixers claimed the title.

Above all, she has been a reliable performer for Australia since making her debut in T20Is and ODIs against New Zealand early in 2017. In January 2024, she was averaging in the low twenties with the ball in all three formats, and in the mid-to-late twenties with the bat; she was second in the ODI all-rounder rankings, and third in T20s. A tally of 42 sixes in 64 T20I innings reflected her firepower. Even in rare Australian defeats, she stood out: when the team now captained by Alyssa Healy lost their one-off Test in Mumbai in December, Gardner’s first-innings figures of 4-100 were her side’s best.

Her growing status led to more media appearances, and it was at one such event that she met the cricketer who influenced her more than any other. “Andrew Symonds was always my favourite player, someone I loved watching,” she says. “I love that he was different, and took the game on. I try to do the same. Sometimes that means getting out, or playing a shot that’s not necessarily there. But I’m always taking the attacking option, which he did so well. And look at the way he fielded, which I find is a real attitude thing: he wanted to hunt the ball, and get players out every time he touched it. I started bowling off-spin because he did. He had a big impact on my career, and that’s why I wear his No. 63 for Australia.”

When Gardner made her Test debut during the 2019 Ashes series, at Taunton, she became the third known Indigenous player – after Faith Thomas and Jason Gillespie – to wear the Baggy Green. She has established a foundation to encourage Indigenous youth to complete their schooling, and been outspoken on Indigenous issues. When Cricket Australia scheduled a T20 against Pakistan on January 26 – Australia Day, marking the establishment of the country’s first European settlement in 1788 – Gardner said the decision didn’t “sit well with me as an individual, but also all the people I’m representing”. She added: “For those who don’t have a good understanding of what that day means, it was the beginning of genocide, massacre and dispossession.”

Now, she says: “My culture is my identity, and I’ve always been really proud to give people a greater understanding of what my culture is about – its history, and how amazing and resilient our people are. The history in our country isn’t great for Aboriginal people, but the way others have leant into learning about our culture has been fantastic. I will never stop showcasing it.”