Ash Gardner has opened up on the incident that changed her life after finishing a training session in Gqeberha during the T20 World Cup and watching a bid roll in for her lot at the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction while on a video call with her mum.
She went for went up hitting a price of INR 3.2 Crore. Her brother showed his phone calculating the app confirming that it was a life-changing money. It is about 558,000 dollars for three weeks which ends up being the joint second-highest contract at the WPL.
It marked a transformation in women’s cricket since Gardner signed her first state contract, worth 3,000 dollars as a teenager. Male cricketers have had to deal with the pressure of the price since the IPL inception in 2008, but Gardner looked around the dressing room, she realised that this was a new sensation in the women’s game.
“It was totally bizarre,” said Gardner. “It was certainly something that I never thought would happen to me throughout my career.”
Gardner admitted that she struggled to be the highest run-getter for the franchise. Her records across the WPL’s first two editions have been impressive with two half-centuries and a strike rate of 128.57 in 16 battings, with 17 wickets with her off-breaks, and the franchise has finished bottom in both seasons.
“People are buying into what the women’s game is, showcasing women in sport,” Gardner says. “Hopefully cricket is leading the way: I’m sure cricket and soccer are pretty close but to be involved in the women’s game at the moment, and the evolution from 10 years ago to now, it’s been fantastic.”
“The ridiculous price tag that it came with certainly brought an expectation that I had to live up to,” Gardner says. “It was weird, because I had – obviously – nothing to do with the price tag that I was bought for. It was like, OK, there’s this expectation – but it’s probably a perceived pressure thing that I’m putting on myself, which I have no control over.
“I probably haven’t played to the best of my ability, which has been really disappointing… It was certainly life-changing, don’t get me wrong. But associating myself with that is probably something that I try to stay away from. It’s a number, at the end of the day. If I can keep performing and doing my best for the team, I think that’s more important than anything else.”
Garnder was signed by Rockets for The Hundred, has took a match-winning eight-wicket haul in last summer Ashes’s Test.
“What we’ve seen over the last few seasons is how successful it’s been. I know in Australia we’re pretty jealous of the crowds that they get. It just shows where women’s cricket is at the moment in this country: it’s going in leaps and bounds in the right direction, and it’s awesome to see fans turn out. I haven’t played at Headingley or in Manchester before, so that is super exciting.”
“When the WBBL was in its infancy, we used to play some double-headers, which I really love. It’s a one-club mentality when you get to play before the men. Obviously, here, they do it so well.
“I can potentially see it changing again in Australia: in terms of crowds and being able to get the fans involved, it probably will end up going towards that. Some people are strongly opinionated on that not happening, so the women have free reign in that space of the year. But I think in terms of growing the brand, the men do a fantastic job and hopefully we can leverage that.”
Gardner was part of the Sydney Sixers squad in WBBL 2023, but has represented them in their home ground – the SCG since 2018. The WBBL has reduced their fixtures this year from 56 matches to 40 and will stage more matches at major stadiums after using smaller venues in previous seasons.
“It was obviously disappointing [in the past] not to be able to play at a place like the SCG,” Gardner says. “Not being able to use that venue was pretty sad. But going to a few more big venues this year, and cutting down the games as well… hopefully, that brings out the best cricket, because players know that they’ll have four fewer games to compete in.”
“And then I guess just having in the back of my mind the World Cup, which actually isn’t that far away. It’s going to be polar opposite conditions, but if my processes stay the same, there’s no reason why I can’t be successful – both for myself and for my team going into that World Cup for Australia,” concluded Ash Gardner.
