“You do well to love cricket, for it is more free from anything sordid, anything dishonourable, than any game in the world. To play it keenly, honourably, generously, self-sacrificingly, is a moral lesson in itself and the classroom is God’s air and sunshine. Foster it, my brothers, so that it may attract all who can find time to play it; protect it from anything that would sully it, so that it may grow in favour with all men.”
Lord Harris former English Test Cricketer and Governor of Bombay, 1931.
Tempe Reserve in Sydney’s South is not a glamorous sporting venue, located next to Sydney Airport and its symphony of screaming turbines. Most weekends this hardscrabble green space plays host to a range of sports - today it is women’s cricket. On an overcast Saturday afternoon the North West Sydney Hurricanes are taking on Universities Blue in the Sydney Cricket Association Women’s Third Grade Twenty20 competition.
Women make up 22% of cricket’s participants in Australia, but the North West Sydney Hurricanes look different to most women’s grade teams. The majority of players hail from the subcontinent, and for most of them it’s their first year of formal cricket.
Having made 88 in their innings, the Hurricanes are fielding and Prashant Jhala, their tall, slightly intense Indian Australian coach circles the boundary, providing ball by ball encouragement to his team. A Level 2 coach and physiotherapist by day he takes his role very seriously.
“Good bruise, wear it with pride,” says Jhala to Hurricanes boundary fielder Dilani Gunawardena as she takes a thudding ball to the ribs.
“Women’s cricket is so positive with the camaraderie as important as wins and losses,” says Jhala, whose enthusiasm for the women’s game is infectious. “Not many people know but it was a women’s cricket tour that helped heal Australian-English relations after Bodyline!”
The team started in a rush in 2014, backed by two men’s clubs, the North West Sydney Hurricanes men’s team and the Lankan Islanders community club. The founders were a group of Sri Lankan women who were joined by Anglo, Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani players. With no grassroots women’s cricket league in Sydney, the Hurricanes were thrust straight into third grade, hard-ball cricket against lifelong cricketers.
In their third game of the season, the entire team was dismissed for one run, their solitary run coming from an extra. They overcame this early setback and Jhala is proud of the Hurricanes’ improvement: three months later they registered their first win.
Charging in to bowl is Janu Gnanamurthy, the tall Indian Tamil opening bowler who before this year had never bowled a ball in her life. When Jhala started teaching throwing mechanics he knew she was a natural. “She can swing the ball and troubles the male grade players at practice. That’s a massive achievement.”
Coach Jhala has strong views on building team culture, something which attracted Andrea Tyler to have a go. Tyler originally joined the team as fitness coach and was so motivated by the team’s passion that she signed up and has developed into a key leader and batsman.
“We have four clear rules,” explains Jhala. “Everybody has a nickname, we provide afternoon tea for the opposing team, we don’t tolerate negativity in any form and it’s not about results its about personal development. This breeds a positive culture and you see it when a catch goes down, everybody gets behind whoever dropped it. We constantly reinforce that everyone is developing at their own rate and they have a total support structure, no matter what happens.”
Jhala is joined on the boundary by Pradhima Jeyaratnam, a Sri Lankan Tamil woman checking out her first game. She’s a hockey player but has a deep love of cricket, having played in school and in the backyard with her family and friends. “My husband is supportive and I can’t wait to play,” she says.
England’s mythical Cricket on the Village Green in its purest form was a gathering of the men of various occupations: the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. The Hurricanes have echoed this tradition with a 21st century flavour, covering many professions including speech pathologist, lawyer, engineer, accountant, musician, teacher, IT, doctor, economist and their captain and team mentor Kirsten Wraith who is studying to join the Federal Police.
After some lusty hitting, the Universities Blue team reach 89 runs to win with four wickets down and after handshakes, the Hurricanes gather around Kirsten and Jhala, coach and captain together, clapping each player for their contributions.
A question for the two umpires: “Tough day fellas. Any players on report?” Based on their smiles, John and Rajesh didn’t endure too testing a day at the office. What’s the difference umpiring men’s and women’s cricket? “It’s not dog eat dog,” replies John, a dentist by day. “In men’s cricket when a batsman is hit, they stand over him and make comments. In women’s cricket they rush in to help.”
With the post mortem complete, Coach Jhala invites me to their next home game against Parramatta, this time at their home ground in Bella Vista in the heartland of Sydney’s Hills Shire. “I’ve got a feeling we’ll win it!” he said with a wink as he leaves the ground.
Two weeks later the Hurricanes face Parramatta in a wooden spoon showdown on a hot day at the Bella Vista cricket oval, a nice suburban ground with a crisp white picket fence, newish pavilion and a McMansion skyline view.
The Hurricanes are feeling the benefits of home ground advantage, with their captain and star bowler Wraith on fire, tearing through the Parramatta batting with figures of 5 for 6 including four wickets in one over.
Parramatta are dismissed for 49 and the Hurricanes seem relaxed and confident as they prepare for their innings. Jhala warms up his two openers with “throwdowns” – “Remember! Smart cricket, pick your ball,” he tells them.
With the backdrop of the Cricket World Cup in Australia though, it’s hard to keep minds on the task at hand.
“Some of [the women] met the Sri Lankan team at a dinner during the week and its all they want to talk about. As coach, focus has been an ongoing challenge,” Jhala adds.
The Hurricanes team sit in a row on the sideline and enjoy a mini party. Verses of Will Smith’s classic Fresh Prince of Bel-Air song are spontaneously belted out, which I learn is their official team song. Every run is cheered, every blocked shot draws a blast of positive comments.
The match takes on a nice rhythm and to add to the suspense, a few wickets fall including the captain Wraith for a hard fought 11. Coach Jhala relentlessly works with the awaiting batsmen throwing balls to warm them up and drilling them with simple advice: “Be patient, cash in on the key scoring ball.”
On the sideline, I am joined by one of the Hurricanes’ fans, Harry, here to support his girlfriend, wicketkeeper and vice-captain Fiona De Silva Weerawardena. He is amazed that a group of women who didn’t know each other before the season have become so tight.
To break some of the tension Harry announces to the team: “Eleven required off eight overs. Ladies at this run rate we’ll win.” Not wanting to tempt fate, they shout him down, one screaming, “Enough of your freaky maths Harry!”
The final runs are scored, triggering howls of joy for the team’s second victory of the year. The Parramatta team graciously provides a guard of honour and cheer as the Hurricanes leave the field. It is cricket in all its original genteel finery.
Amidst the celebrations Wraith, the team’s most experienced cricketer, says with a big smile, “I’ve helped rep teams before but this is my first club team. I’m in awe of them.”
“I’ve never been part of a team that sings and dances on the field, always laughing. And what improvement! At the start of the season some of them couldn’t throw five metres.”
Jhala takes the team into the change rooms for their team-talk and after lots of clapping and hollering returns with a smile. “Now we can talk about the World Cup,” he says, relieved.
The team bursts into excited chat about Sri Lanka’s chances, the names of their stars peppering the exchanges – Sangakkara, Mathews, Jayawardene, Dilshan, Malinga.
One player Nadishi Athulathmudali is particularly excited: “I booked my tickets over a year ago and I’ve been counting the days. I actually dream about it.”
