Australian Women's Cricket Team Ashes victory morning tea, Admiralty House

[E&OE]

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Cammeraygal People of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to their elders, past and present, emerging leaders and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders gathered here today.

Good morning.

I am going to say something you have no doubt heard many times and I suspect you will keep hearing for a long time to come yet—congratulations!

You have achieved something every cricketer—from the backyard to the first class arena—dreams of. You have won, and now retained, The Ashes.

The latest series was billed as a ‘battle for the ages’, with the two best teams in the world going ‘head to head’.

But with five wins from seven games you prevailed in style—winning all three One Day Internationals, drawing the test and winning two of the three T20s.

Individual highlights included:

  • Meg’s [Lanning, Captain] 133 at Chelmsford—the highest ever T20 score in women’s cricket
  • Ellyse’s [Perry] 7 for 22 in the third ODI at Canterbury—the best figures ever by an Australian woman.

But, most importantly, you excelled together as a team. Like all great teams you are more than the sum of your parts.

You supported each other, looked out for each other and you succeeded as one.

I can see you represent Australia with great pride.

And you have become much more than sporting champions. You are role models and a source of inspiration for a whole generation of young girls who see what you do and realise that they too can be cricketers.

  • This year alone, 871 new girls’ teams took to the field across Australia.
  • And, today, almost half a million women and girls play cricket—about one third of all cricket participants.

Australia is proud of you. And there is more to come. 

This summer we look forward to:

  • The return of the Big Bash.
  • The T20 Wold Cup—with the final at the MCG on International Women’s Day.
  • And that other great fixture on the cricketing calendar, the Governor-General’s XI; this year playing the Sri Lankan team.

Once again, congratulations. This Australian team has achieved so much.

Enjoy your status among the game's greats and good luck for what lays ahead—as always, Australia is right behind you.

[Ends]