Ashleigh Gardner Age, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ashleigh Gardner

• Ashleigh Gardner is an Australian cricketer who plays as an allrounder for Australia women’s national cricket team. Gardner also plays for New South Wales in the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL), Sydney Sixers in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).

• Ashleigh Gardner’s mother, Katherine, grew up in a boarding house in Orange. Katherine’s mother died when she was just five days old. She lost her foster parents at a young age too. Due to her mother’s disjointed childhood, Ashleigh learnt about her Muruwari heritage much later in life.

• As a kid, she wanted to become a police officer.

• Athletic since childhood, Gardner grew up playing multiple sports. She used to cricket with her father, Jim, and older brother, Aaron, in the backyard of their house. Her junior club was Revesby Workers Cricket Club.
  

  Childhood picture of Ashleigh Gardner

• At 17, she received her first state contract. At that time, she was completing her HSC.

• In the 2014–15 Imparja Cup, she gave a standout performance playing for New South Wales (NSW).

• Thereafter, she represented NSW in the 2015–16 Women’s National Cricket League season.
  

  Ashleigh Gardner playing for New South Wales

• In 2015, the Australian franchise cricket team Sydney Sixers signed up Gardner for the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).

• During the 2015–16 season, she played one T20 and one 50-over game in New Zealand for Northern Districts (previously known as Northern Spirit).

• She had a blockbuster year during the 2016–17 season, with Sydney Sixers emerging as winners of WBBL|02 and New South Wales winning the WNCL. Furthermore, she was named the Young Gun of WBBL|02.

• In the 2017–18 WNCL season, she represented South Australia. There, she played just six games before returning to her native team, New South Wales.

• In December 2017, he broke the WBBL record for the fastest century, blasting 114 off 52 balls at North Sydney Oval against Melbourne Stars during WBBL|03. For her impeccable performance, she was named the Player of the match. Sydney Sixers won the season, defeating Perth Scorchers by 9 wickets with Gardner contributing 22 not out in the championship decider.
  

  Ashleigh Gardner playing for Sydney Sixers

• Gardner was withdrawn as a precaution just before the start of the match against ACT during the 2018–19 WNCL after she suffered a mild concussion during warm-ups. However, she was cleared to play in the final against Queensland. NSW won the season while Gardner managed to score 30 not out with the bat and take 2 wickets for 36 with the ball in the 33-run victory over Queensland.

• During WBBL|06,  Gardner experienced the seventh concussion incident of her professional career while she was fielding in a match at Drummoyne Oval. Consequently, she was substituted from the contest.

• She was named as Player of the Tournament for WBBL|08. It was the first time a past Young Gun had won the title in the history of WBBL.

• She was run out for a golden duck in her debut T20I match in which Australia had a 40-run win over New Zealand Women. However, in the following game of the series, she took her first international wicket when she dismissed Amy Satterthwaite via a Kristen Beams catch.

• She hit the match-winning runs during her debut ODI match against New Zealand in which Australia secured a four-wicket victory with Gardner scoring 12 not out with the bat.

• She became the first Indigenous Australian woman to appear in a cricket world cup after she was named to Australia’s squad for the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup.  She took take eight wickets from as many matches before the elimination of Australia in the semi-finals of the world cup.

• Gardner’s breakout performance with the bat for Australia came in the opener of the 2017–18 Women’s Ashes in which she scored 27 off 18, helping Australia to clinch a narrow two-wicket victory.

• With ten wickets from six matches, Gardner was one of the highest wicket-takers of the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20. In the final against England, she was named the Player of the match for taking 3 for 22 and scoring 32 not out. Her efforts led Australia to an eight-wicket victory at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

• During her debut test match, she became the only woman to have gotten off the mark with a six in an international inning of all three formats.

Cricket trivia.

Ashleigh Gardner is the only woman to have got off the mark with a six in an international innings of all three formats. pic.twitter.com/iNuH903co4

— hypocaust (@_hypocaust) January 3, 2021

• Gardner is the third aboriginal Australian to play Test cricket. Faith Thomas was the first aboriginal Australian woman to play Test cricket; she played a lone Test in 1958. Jason Gillespie was the first aboriginal Australian man to play Test cricket.

• She received her Baggy Green during the Ashes in 2019.

• She recorded her highest T20I score, 93 runs from 57 balls, in a Tri-Nation Series match against India at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on 8 February 2020.

• Thereafter, she was named to Australia’s squad for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. In the match against Bangladesh during the world cup, her efforts of a quickfire inning of 22 not out from just nine balls led Australia to an 86-run victory. She claimed the winning catch of the tournament’s final leading Australia to clinch its second consecutive title in the world championship.

• She recorded her maiden Test half-century in a drawn match against India during the India Women tour of Australia 2021/22.

• She played a dominant inning of 48 not out from 18 balls against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve, a group stage match during the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup. She contributed to Australia’s 141-run victory in the match by taking 3 wickets for 15.

• Australia claimed the gold medal in the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. In the final, Australia defeated India by 9 runs with Gardner scoring 25 off 15 in the first innings before taking 3/16 from three overs with the ball.
  

  Australia Women after winning the gold medal at cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games

• She was a part of the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup squad for Australia. Australia won the title for the seventh time defeating England in the finals.

• Australia emerged as a winner of the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with Ashleigh Gardner being named as the Player of the series.
  

  Australia Women after winning the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup

• In an interview, she revealed that had she not become a sportsperson, she would become a firefighter.

• She enjoys consuming alcoholic beverages.
  

  A snip of Ashleigh Gardner’s Instagram post in which she is enjoying beer

• She is the founder of the Ashleigh Gardner Foundation, which aims at providing aid to Aboriginal children in sports, education and lifestyle.

• During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, she developed an isolation hobby, dot painting. Numerous cricketers like Nicole Bolton, Moises Henriques, Mel Jones, and Alyssa Healy commissioned her artwork. Gardner also painted a pair of boots for GWS Giants footballer Erin Todd, which were worn by him for the Indigenous Round of the AFL Women’s competition.
  

  A picture of Ashleigh Gardner posing with one of her dot paintings