The concept of Twenty20 cricket was always about lifting scoring rates, but contemporary T20 focuses obsessively on batting. Indian Premier League pars of 250, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, six-hitting records, 30-ball hundreds, the search for the 20-over double ton: the attention is as relentless as the rate at which white Kookaburras fly into crowds. Looking at the Australia women’s team, the focus is on young aggressors Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll; on Ellyse Perry’s late-career lift in strike rate; on Ash Gardner and Georgia Wareham’s aerial power at the back end.
In the current T20 World Cup in England, though, Australia’s success has been built on its work in the field, never more so than in their semi-final against West Indies while setting up a win by eight wickets with seven overs to spare.
