BBC Online :
Ashleigh Gardner was a two-time world champion by the age of 22 – destructive with the bat and a match-winner with the ball.
But she is not your typical Australian cricketer.
In fact, cricketers like Gardner are all too rare. She is one of just three aboriginal Australians to play Test cricket.
Gardner is a world beater but much, much more.
“It is an awesome feeling walking out on to the field knowing I am representing my country but also my culture and my people,” Gardner, now 23, told BBC Sport.
Gardner’s indigenous roots come through her mother, who is from the Muruwari people – a tribe from rural New South Wales.
Ashleigh Gardner was a two-time world champion by the age of 22 – destructive with the bat and a match-winner with the ball.
But she is not your typical Australian cricketer.
In fact, cricketers like Gardner are all too rare. She is one of just three aboriginal Australians to play Test cricket.
Gardner is a world beater but much, much more.
“It is an awesome feeling walking out on to the field knowing I am representing my country but also my culture and my people,” Gardner, now 23, told BBC Sport.
Gardner’s indigenous roots come through her mother, who is from the Muruwari people – a tribe from rural New South Wales.
A little over six weeks ago Gardner was winning the T20 World Cup with her Australia team-mates in front of 86,174 spectators at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Now, with cricket halted by coronavirus, she has found a new hobby in aboriginal paintings. However, the lockdown has postponed any plans to visit her tribe’s homelands.
“I was supposed to go over Easter,” Gardner said.
“My mum has only ever been out there once. That is where both of her parents are buried and a couple of other family members.
“Just being able to see that and just to soak all that in will be quite an emotional experience.
“Going in the future is something I am really looking forward to.”
Ashleigh Gardner was a two-time world champion by the age of 22 – destructive with the bat and a match-winner with the ball.
But she is not your typical Australian cricketer.
In fact, cricketers like Gardner are all too rare. She is one of just three aboriginal Australians to play Test cricket.
Gardner is a world beater but much, much more.
“It is an awesome feeling walking out on to the field knowing I am representing my country but also my culture and my people,” Gardner, now 23, told BBC Sport.
Gardner’s indigenous roots come through her mother, who is from the Muruwari people – a tribe from rural New South Wales.
Ashleigh Gardner was a two-time world champion by the age of 22 – destructive with the bat and a match-winner with the ball.
But she is not your typical Australian cricketer.
In fact, cricketers like Gardner are all too rare. She is one of just three aboriginal Australians to play Test cricket.
Gardner is a world beater but much, much more.
“It is an awesome feeling walking out on to the field knowing I am representing my country but also my culture and my people,” Gardner, now 23, told BBC Sport.
Gardner’s indigenous roots come through her mother, who is from the Muruwari people – a tribe from rural New South Wales.
A little over six weeks ago Gardner was winning the T20 World Cup with her Australia team-mates in front of 86,174 spectators at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Now, with cricket halted by coronavirus, she has found a new hobby in aboriginal paintings. However, the lockdown has postponed any plans to visit her tribe’s homelands.
“I was supposed to go over Easter,” Gardner said.
“My mum has only ever been out there once. That is where both of her parents are buried and a couple of other family members.
“Just being able to see that and just to soak all that in will be quite an emotional experience.
“Going in the future is something I am really looking forward to.”
