Cardiff Uni graduate urns Ashes glory

While England’s male cricketers have been put to the sword down under, their female counterparts have become only the third England women’s cricket team to win the Ashes in Australia. And they were led by an ex-Cardiff uni girl, Heather Knight.

Knight in shining armour

In a new-look multi-format series, with one test match, three 50 over games and three T20s, England secured the win with two games to spare. Their wins in three of the first five games, including a win in the crucial test match in Perth meant they took a 10-4 lead – which buried the Aussie girls’ hopes of taking the famous trophy.

Knight is the team’s opening batsman and hit two 50s in the series and told The Tab: “Obviously it’s an amazing feeling to have retained the Ashes, it’s very special particularly as the new format as hugely tested both teams but celebrating with the girls, singing the team song was a great moment”.

Still a Cardiff girl at heart

Girls on top

Heather and the ladies have put the men to shame with their win and their captain Charlotte Edwards called it the “best ever win” – yet the coverage for the women is nowhere near as widespread as it is for the men, who have only won one game out of twelve on their tour.

England’s women celebrate a win in last summer’s series. They repeated that feat again this winter.

Cricket, in Cardiff?

Heather Knight studied at Cardiff Uni and is originally from Devon. She scored her highest score of 157 against Australia last summer and once again led from the front in a fantastic series for England’s heroines.

Back-to-back Ashes wins are hugely impressive and to have a girl who has sampled the relentless Cardiff rain in a successful cricket team is pretty significant! She must have done all her training indoors or in the Aussie heat rather than the sodden Blackweir fields…

Congrats to Heather and the girls!