Ashleigh Gardner

Ashleigh Gardner has been a gamechanger on and off the field. As an allrounder she has become an integral part of the all-conquering Australia team and is viewed as a potential future captain. She is one of just four Indigenous Australians to play Test cricket alongside Faith Thomas, Jason Gillespie and Scott Boland. In the inaugural WPL auction in 2023 she went for 3.2 crore (AU$558,000 approx) to Gujarat Giants.

Gardner made her international debut in early 2017 against New Zealand. Later that year she struck a 52-ball 114 for Sydney Sixers in the WBBL. Shortly before the 2020 T20 World Cup, which Australia would go on to win on home soil, Gardner hit 93 off 57 balls against India during a tri-series.

In 2022 she was a pivotal player in Australia's gold medal success at the Commonwealth Games with a half-century in the opening game against India then three wickets in the final against the same opposition and in 2023 was named Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup in South Africa.

In recent times her offspin bowling has gone from strength to strength and in the 2023 Ashes she claimed a match haul of 12 for 165 in the Test at Trent Bridge

She is a two-time Belinda Clark Award winner, taking the accolade in 2022 and 2024.