Women's Ashes

Margaret Peden was the first captain of the Australian Women's Cricket Team. She had an equally important role off-field in organising England's tour in 1934-35. After serving as the honorary secretary of NSW's Women's Cricket Association, which she helped found in 1928, she pushed for the creation of the Australian Women's Cricket Council to organise the women's game at the national level. While Peden's Australia lost 0-2 in 1934-35, the effort attracted fan and media attention and paved the way for regular cricket ties between the countries. In 1937, Peden captained Australia in a return series in England, where the Aussie women recorded their maiden Test win.

Mollie Dive was the second captain of Australia and the first to enjoy a series win against England, in 1949. She was also at the helm of the side that retained the Ashes in England in 1951.A right-handed batter and leg spin bowler, she played for NSW from 1932 and made her Test debut as captain on a tour of New Zealand in 1938. Dive was a leader off the field as well, working with the NSW Women's Cricket Association and Australian Women's Cricket Council as a state and national selector, manager and coach. She was awarded an OAM for her service to sport in 1987 and a stand at North Sydney Oval was named after her the same year.

Una Paisley was one of the most prominent figures of the Australian team in the post-World War II era. She played 12 Test matches and was captain for four. Paisley made her debut for Victoria at the age of 15 in 1938, then became the first Australian woman to hit a Test century with 108 on debut in 1948 against New Zealand. She hit another century against NZ in her first Test as captain with 101 in Adelaide in January 1957. She captained Australia in the 1958 home series against England where all three Tests were drawn. The award for the Best player in Cricket Victoria's women's Premier Cricket competition is named the Una Paisley Medal.

Mary Loy (née Allitt) was an opening batter who represented Australia in 11 Test matches in the 1950s and 60s, leading the team in her final three on the 1963 tour of England. Her Test debut came against England in Scarborough in 1951, a series drawn 1-1. Allitt, who had been consistent with performances for NSW while Test cricket was sparse, was chosen to lead Australia on the 1963 Ashes tour of England at age 37. She made her highest score of 76 in the second Test of the three-games series in Scarborough, but was unable to prevent England claiming the series with a win in the final Test at The Oval

Muriel 'Pixie' Picton, a right-handed batter and an off-spinner, played seven Test matches for Australia, captaining the side in four of those, including her debut on the 1960-61 tour of New Zealand. After serving as the vice-captain under Mary Allitt on the 1963 tour of England, she was named captain for the 1968-69 home Ashes series, where all three Tests were drawn. Picton also represented New South Wales and Australia in hockey and was part of the first Australian women's hockey team's overseas tour, to the Netherlands in 1959. Picton was a selector for both New South Wales and Australia, and served as the president of the NSW Women's Cricket Association after her playing career.

Dorothy Anne Gordon (nee Lonsdale), a skilful allrounder, was Australian captain for the first ever women's game at Lord's. The Victorian made her Test debut against England in 1968 in Adelaide. In her second Test, in Melbourne, she collected five-wicket hauls in each innings to become the second player, after Betty Wilson, to take 10 wickets in a match, including removing England's most potent players Rachael Heyhoe-Flint and Enid Bakewell in both innings. A fiery bowler but elegant with the bat, she also played in Australia's first-ever Women's ODI at the inaugural World Cup in 1973. At age 34, she was named captain in 1976 for Australia's first tour of the West Indies in May that year, she then led Australia to England where a three-Test series was drawn 0-0 before England won the following ODI series 2-1.

Sharon Tredrea is regarded as one of the fastest bowlers the women's game has ever seen, and was also accomplished with the bat. Selected for Victoria at just 15, Tredrea began her international career at the first women’s World Cup in 1973, starred in the 1978 World Cup winning side, where she was vice-captain, with 4-25 in the final to run through England. She then captained the team to another World Cup win in 1982 and would go on to collect a third World Cup trophy in 1988 after a successful return from an Achilles injury. Tredrea was named the 10th captain of the Australian team in 1979, leading Australia to a 1-0 win in a three-Test series against New Zealand in January of that year. She was captain for the 1984-85 five-Test Women’s Ashes series but tore her Achilles in the first Test in Perth. She would not play Test cricket again.

A reluctant captain, following the series-ending Achilles injury to her fast-bowling partner Sharon Tredrea, Raelee Thompson was elevated to captain Australia for the final four Tests of the 1984-85 series, leading Australia to victory in two of them for a famous Ashes series win. That included Australia’s first Test win over England since 1951 and the series victory was Australia’s first over England since 1948-49. With the Test series tied 1-1, the then 39-year-old produced a career-best spell of 5-33 during the fifth Test in Bendigo to set up an Australian victory. After leading Australia to a 3-0 win over England in the following ODI series, Thompson retired from playing but went on to serve as an Australian selector and was inducted in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2022.

Lyn Larsen is Australia’s most successful women’s captain, leading Australia to victory in two successive Ashes series. First appointed as one-day captain in 1986 at just 22 years old, she was the then-youngest Australian women’s captain, a record beaten by Meg Lanning in 2014. She captained Australia to a 1-0 win in the three-Test Women’s Ashes series in England in 1987 in her first Test assignment. She led Australia to a 1-0 win in a three-Test series in New Zealand in 1990 and beat India 2-0 in another three-match series in 1991. She capped her career with 86, her career high Test score, in the one-off Test against England in 1992 to retain the Ashes. Her five Test wins as skipper are a record for the most wins by an Australian women’s captain. She retired in 1994 with 410 Test runs, an average of 41, and 26 Test wickets at an impressive economy of 1.37. She also led Australia to the 1988 World Cup, collecting 2-22 in Australia’s victory over England in the final at the MCG. A pioneer off the field as well, Larsen was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2024.

A two-time World Cup winning captain, the holder of multiple records for Australia, Belinda Clark is an icon of the game, with a legacy that stretches far beyond her on-field contributions. A prolific batter, she announced herself with a century on Test debut against India at North Sydney Oval in 1991, became the first batter, woman or man, to hit an ODI double-century in 1997, won 83 of the 101 ODIs she captained, including the 1997 and 2005 ODI World Cup finals. Her first Test as captain came in 1994, a draw with New Zealand in Christchurch. Under Clark, Australia would draw all three Tests of the 1998 Ashes, which included her Test career high 136 at Worcester, while she led Australia to victory in both Tests of the 2001 series. Her final Test series saw England end Australia’s era of dominance to win in 2005. Post-playing, Clark held numerous managerial and executive roles in Australian and international cricket. She was the first woman inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2014, and the highest individual award in Australian women's cricket is named after her.

A dynamic top-order batter who currently holds the all-time record for the most women’s Test runs by an Australian, Karen Rolton captained Australia in one Ashes Test in 2008. In a one-Test series played in Bowral, Rolton brought the daring associated with her batting to her captaincy, declaring just 141 runs ahead but needing a victory to reclaim the Ashes. It wasn’t to be. As a batter Rolton enjoyed sustained success, capped by her unbeaten 209 at Headingley in 2001 that helped Australia win the second Test and retain the Ashes. The left-hander was instrumental in World Cup victories in 2000 and 2005, was the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2006, and led Australia to the inaugural women’s T20 World Cup in 2009. She was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2016 and Australian Cricket Hall of Fame two years later, when the South Australian Cricket Association named a redeveloped cricket ground in Adelaide the Karen Rolton Oval in her honour.

Jodie Fields made her international debut in a Test against India in Adelaide in February 2006. She was appointed captain of the side in 2009, becoming the first Queensland woman to captain Australia. In her first Test as captain, against England in July 2009, she made her maiden Test century with a brilliant 139 to rescue her team after they had slumped to 5-28. Fields tore her hamstring off the bone while batting in a domestic match in 2010, then slipped on wet concrete in a freak accident that put back her recovery and ruled her out of that year’s T20 World Cup, which the Aussies went on to win without her. Returning to the side, she lead Australia to a second successive T20 World Cup title in 2012 in Sri Lanka, and an ODI World Cup title in India in February 2013. She helmed Australia in the first multi-format Women’s Ashes that year, drawing the Test but Australia lost both white-ball formats. After defeat in the Test to open the return series in Australia six months later, Fields was ruled out of the remainder of the series with injury and retired soon after.

Alex Blackwell made her international debut in 2003 and built a career around her powerful and precise stroke play. She captained one Test match, regaining the Women’s Ashes in 2011 in Sydney having declared the first innings while still trailing then, after an inspired bowling performance, hit a career-high 74 to steer the Aussies to their victory target for a seven-wicket win. Blackwell also captained Australia to their first T20 World Cup trophy in 2010, standing in for the injured Jodie Fields, and was a vice-captain of the team that won that same title in 2012 and 2014. She was also part of the ODI World Cup winning sides in 2005 and 2013. During the 2015 Ashes series Blackwell became the first Australian woman to play 200 games for her country, playing alongside her twin sister Kate in more than 50 internationals.

A cricket superstar, Meg Lanning is one of the finest Australia has ever produced. A seven-times World Cup winner, five of them as captain – and Commonwealth Games gold medallist – Lanning appeared destined from greatness the moment she burst onto the international scene as a teenager in 2010, scoring a century against England in her second ODI. In January 2014, Lanning became Australia's youngest-ever captain when she took over mid-series for an injured Jodie Field during the multi-format Ashes. She soon took on the role for all three formats full-time. Under her leadership, Australia won back the Ashes in 2015, as well as victories in the 2019 and 2021-22 series. A shoulder reconstruction in 2017 following a shock ODI World Cup exit ruled her out of that summer’s Ashes. Her return was the start of a golden era that saw Australia win the 2018 and 2020 T20 World Cups, the 2022 ODI World Cup, claim a world record 26 ODI victories in a row, dominated the Ashes, won Commonwealth Games gold and the 2023 T20 World Cup, before a shock international retirement at just 31.

Rachael Haynes is a study in poise, perseverance and adaptability. Her leadership potential was recognised early on, in 2008 leading an Australia U21 side that beat both the senior English and Australian teams. She made her own senior Australia debut in the 2009 Ashes, hitting 98 on Test debut, and was Australia’s leading run-scorer in the 2013 ODI World Cup win. Later that year she was dropped and spent four years out of the side before a recall for the 2017 ODI World Cup. She found herself thrust into the captaincy during that tournament when Meg Lanning missed matches with a shoulder injury, and was named captain for the 2017-18 Ashes series with Lanning’s subsequent shoulder reconstruction. Haynes one Test in charge was the first ever women’s day-night Test, as Australia retained the Ashes in a drawn series. She was vice-captain of the Aussie teams that won the 2018 and 2020 T20 World Cups and 2022 ODI World Cup, where she played a significant role as an opening bat. Haynes retirement from international cricket after winning gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Alyssa Healy is one of the most destructive batters in the game, a slick wicketkeeper and the current captain of the Australian team. Her international debut came in 2010 at the age of 19 following injury to fellow ‘keeper Jodie Fields. Healy helped Australia win their first T20 World Cup later that year, and secured her place as the team’s full-time ‘keeper in all formats following Field’s retirement in 2014. The 2017 World Cup exit was a turning point, with Healy moved to opener in the limited-overs formats, unleashing her destructive potential. In 2020, Healy was the Player of the Match in Australia's T20 World Cup Final victory over India at the MCG, and in 2022, she rose to even greater heights, smashing 170 against England to lead Australia to World Cup victory in Christchurch. She captained Australia in the 2023 Ashes in England with Meg Lanning absent, continuing Australia’s dominance of the series by retaining the Ashes. Healy was appointed to the captaincy full-time when Lanning retired later that year.