Behind the Southern Stars

[PlanetCricket]

Article by Guest -

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BEHIND THE COMMONWEALTH BANK SOUTHERN STARS​

AUSTRALIA?S WORLD CHAMPION WOMEN?S CRICKET TEAM ​

Australia?s women?s cricket team, the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars, is one of the country?s most successful national sporting teams, but its players are far from household names.

How many Australians, for example, followed captain Jodie Fields? courageous 18-month battle to return to the crease following what many expected to be a career ending injury?

And how many people know that rising star Meg Lanning was the youngest player ? male or female ? to score a century for Australia, a feat achieved on just her second outing for the team.

Fields and Lanning feature in a series of four short films which introduce these gutsy, talented athletes to both the broader cricket and sporting community of players and fans and provide an insight into what makes them tick. The films are part of the pair?s role as Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars ambassadors, aimed to encourage greater following and participation in women?s cricket and help it become one of Australia?s most recognisable female sports.

Also featuring in the biopic stories are fellow Commonwealth Bank Southern Star ambassadors, motivated and versatile player Alyssa Healy and fast bowler Ellyse Perry, whose multi-sport career has led some observers to note that if she were a male athlete, she would be recognised as perhaps the country?s most talented sportsperson.

Each of these four players feature in their own short film, shot in a way that allows us to see not only what makes them tick, but also showcases their athleticism in a whole new light.

The four stories were released throughout January to support and highlight the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars during the Women?s T20 INTL series and Women?s Rose Bowl ODI series against the New Zealand White Ferns in a bid to generate interest in this accomplished team and show Australians just who these sporting heroes are! The team proved just how inspirational they are by winning bothseries!



TO WATCH??

JODIE FIELDS?? Field Day | Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars in this together ????????????????? ????????

ELLYSE PERRY? Ellyse Perry?s quest | In the proud tradition of cricket ????

ALYSSA HEALY Mind games | Playing the Healy way ???????????????

MEG LANNING? Rising Star | Meg in for the win ???????????????????????????



FOLLOW THE COMMONWEALTH BANK SOUTHERN STARS http://www.cricket.com.au/southernstars, @_SouthernStars



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[sifter132]

Thanks for the links 'Guest'. I've got a lot of time for women's cricket actually. There aren't a lot of players who can hit it massive or bowl fast, but the skills otherwise are quite good. Although of course there are players who can hit a bit - I think it was Meg Lanning hit a couple over the fence (not just the rope) at North Sydney Oval earlier this year. Ellyse Perry can hit 120kph with ball which is pretty good for a girl - as fast as Trent Copeland for example. And both those girls can rip it in from the boundary.

It's just a shame that the lack of big hitting and extra pace are the things people want to see right now in cricket thanks to T20, and that hurts the popularity of the women's game. So I guess that makes having 'stars' that people can come to watch and admire all the more important eg. Ellyse Perry. It's probably not quite at the stage yet, but I also wonder how long it will take for the marketing men grab women's cricket to 'sex it up' a bit eg. maybe with a uniform change. Maybe not as far as playing lingerie cricket, like the Lingerie Football League in the USA does

 

[angryangy]

If you look at who keeps the runs down in a t20, well they're usually either spinners or cagey medium pacers, aren't they? I think some of the girls are better strikers of the ball than is given credit, but they get far less value from punching the ball and timing it nicely.

 

[IanG]

Definatly a fan of women's cricket. When you watch them you need to keep in mind that they don't have the bruit power that the men do but make up for it with technique.

I went to the Australia v South Africa match of the 2009 World Cup in Newcastle and it was very good.

Their T20 games against New Zealand and last summer were shown live on TV too.

Also sifter123 are you suggesting they go back to wearing the old style skirts?

 

[Sedition]

The catching ability is the only thing that brings the game down for me, but otherwise I don't mind watching when it's actually televised.

Chances of intergender matches against the minnows of men's cricket? Could be interesting, though the men would never agree

 

[sifter132]

Also sifter123 are you suggesting they go back to wearing the old style skirts?

Hmmm probably not But I do think they could come up with a uniform that's different to the Aussie mens team. Maybe with some pink in it...

Chances of intergender matches against the minnows of men's cricket? Could be interesting, though the men would never agree

Yeah any appearances will be for gimmicks only. And it will always be good fodder for arguments eg. the women's England team would have done better vs Pakistan...But there have been a couple of times the girls have played with men - I know Ellyse Perry played a match in Sydney grade cricket with the blokes and took a couple of wickets. And I remember Zoe Goss (wearing a skirt!) getting Brian Lara out back in a mid 90s charity match.

Edit: here it is: Brian Lara dismissed by a Woman - YouTube

Anyway, the thing holding women's cricket back is lack of professionalism - they all have jobs and don't get to spend near as much time training as the guys do. Think of the impacts - the fielding won't be as sharp as Sedition is saying because they don't get as many fielding sessions, they don't have the extra time to get in the gym and gain strength to hit harder and bowl faster. Money and sponsorships could help make those things happen. But I'm guessing that SOMEONE out there has a plan for what could happen with women's cricket (hopefully that person works at Cricket Australia). Part of that plan could be 'exploiting' the good looks of some of these girls to get sponsors. Other bits might be more traditional ways of getting money. It's always the issue with women's sports...

 

[Sedition]

For a moment I thought it was a Scotsman steaming in, Lara must've been relieved walking off when he realised it was a girl I guess baseball was having some kind of boom back then, ridiculous looking shirts too.

Women's sports are probably always going to struggle I guess. Netball and hockey have always seemed the most popular to me and I couldn't name one player from our national team. I think one of our basketballers made it in the WNBA (US league) and makes like 35k a year maybe? I could've made that up but it sounds good.

 

[angryangy]

All they need is brand recognition. Mitchell Johnson and Cameron White are in current KFC ads; it doesn't seem to be a consideration that they're not even in the team.

 

[IanG]

This?

 

[sifter132]

Now we're talking

So that's how to sell it - just need to improve the quality of play a little...The best thing to do that would be an awesome schoolgirl cricket competition. I think of rugby league here in Australia - there isn't a whole lot of money in it compared to other sports, yet the players coming into the NRL seem to be better and better every year. It's because the school competitions are very tough and players are training the house down to win. This is why in the USA women's sports produce so consistently, because the high school and colleges have that competition which makes the girls work hard on their sports and keeps raising the bar.