Don Bradman Dominance

Lore & Background

Australia played their first Test match in 1934–35 against England. The two teams now compete biennially for the Women's Ashes. A rich history with New Zealand stretches back almost as far while strong rivalries have also developed more recently with India and the West Indies, manifesting predominantly via limited overs cricket. In the 50-over format of the game, Australia have won more World Cups than all other teams combined—capturing the 1978, 1982, 1988, 1997, 2005, 2013 and 2022 titles. They have achieved similarly emphatic success in Twenty20 cricket by winning the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2023.

In Their Own Story

The dust of the Melbourne Cricket Ground hangs heavy in the late afternoon sun as Don Bradman steps forward for one final delivery. The crowd, a sea of white flannel and anticipation, holds its breath. There is no fear in his stance, only the quiet, mathematical certainty of a man who has rewritten the rules of the game. As the bowler runs in, time seems to slow; the ball pitches, rises, and meets the willow with a sharp crack that echoes not just across the ground, but through history itself.

Reader's Guide

In 2003, Women's Cricket Australia (WCA) and the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) merged to form a single governing body, known as Cricket Australia (CA), which remains to this day. CA has expressed a major goal of the organisation is for cricket to be Australia's leading sport for women and girls, citing the performance and exposure of the national team—which is heavily dependent on its increasingly professional domestic structures, namely the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) and the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL)—as a key factor to achieving such an aspiration.

Did You Know?

• A survey conducted by TrueNorth Research in April 2020 showed the national women's cricket team have the strongest emotional connection with Australian sports fans.
• Betty Wilson became the first player to take ten wickets and score a century in the same Test, during the 1957–58 series against England.
• Faith Thomas made her debut in the 1957–58 series, becoming the first Indigenous person to represent Australia in any national sporting team.
• The first recorded women's cricket match in Australia took place in Bendio in 1874.