Alana King can still clearly remember the first time she joined an all-girls cricket team.
She was invited to an under 12s Victorian School Sports Association program, after years spent playing with just the boys.
"There wasn't a lot of girls playing cricket," she said.
"I grew up playing club cricket with the boys.
"Mum and Dad were very hesitant about me playing with the boys at a young age, but I was really, really keen to play cricket.
"I didn't really care if it was the boys or the girls, I just wanted to play cricket."
King started her journey at the Oakleigh Cricket Club, before she moved to the VSSA program.
The move opened her eyes to the opportunity for girls in cricket.
"That's when I saw that there were other girls playing cricket and loving it as much as me," King said.
"Then slowly I saw the development in women's cricket. There was more teams available, there was more representative teams that I could be playing in the regional side of things.
"It was a very exciting time. Being being part of it at the time, and actually seeing it develop, was pretty cool."
Looking up to the stars
King tried several sports before settling on cricket, including playing tennis when she was five, and acting as a ball kid at the 2011 Australian Open women's singles final.
But, even after seeing Kim Clijsters and Li Na up close, in her household cricket was the number one sport.
Her older brother Marc was a cricketer, and the pair spent hours in the yard playing together.
And while King has become one of the world's best spin bowlers, it wasn't always heading in that direction.
"Being of Indian background, Sachin Tendulkar was always on my screens," she said.
"The family would love to watch India play, and the Little Master was someone who I was like 'Wow, this guys is someone special, I'd love to be like him'."
But it was another cricket legend who ultimately had the biggest impact on her development.
"Being Victorian-born and seeing Warnie [Shane Warne] at the MCG every summer take poles for fun was pretty special and inspired not just me, but a whole lot of young spinners," King said.
"He was a big inspiration to me."
Her passion for bowling eventually pushed her down that path.
She paid tribute to the late Warne after taking a wicket against England in March, and also after taking a hat-trick in England's The 100 competition, where she claimed 4-15 at Old Trafford - the same ground Warne delivered the 'Ball of the Century' in 1993.
Now a role model
While King's achievements have been widely celebrated, they may never have happened if not for a big risk taken during the pandemic.
The spinner was struggling to get a game for Victoria in the WNCL, and decided to look elsewhere.
Western Australia came knocking.
"I just wanted to bowl more and I couldn't bowl a lot when Meg [Lanning] was blessed with so many Aussie players, and she was spoilt for choice," King said.
"I thought long and hard about it, but I just knew that I needed to try something new for me. I needed to freshen up my style of cricket, I guess, challenging myself a little bit.
"I'm very close to my family and not seeing them for about a year was pretty tough, but I guess that's what technology is good for these days, FaceTiming them back home."
Westward move pays off
The move paid off in spades, with King now a fixture in the Australia side in all formats, winning a World Cup and a Commonwealth Games Gold Medal in the process.
She now sees her role as inspiring another generation.
"I just want kids to pick up a bat and ball and realise how much they love cricket ... because I think it's the best sport in the world."
"I wouldn't be playing it with a big smile on my face if it wasn't."
King has a simple message for anyone thinking about playing cricket.
"It's obviously nerve-wracking at the start, but if you grab a few mates, you get to play with your mates on the field. Have some fun," she said.
"I think it's just a great way to make some new friends.
"I think it's just great to see people work together to achieve the one thing of winning and that's what we all love to do.
"We love to win and hopefully we can keep inspiring kids to do that."
