Australia ladies ban ‘Vortex’ as Ashleigh Gardner demands more

Ashleigh Gardner, an all-round player for Australia, urged her team’s hitters to fill their boots during the third Twenty20 International against New Zealand in Brisbane on Tuesday. This pre-game behaviour threatened to ruin Gardner’s T20 World Cup, but Australia prohibited it.

A collision with teammate Georgia Wareham during a warm-up practice involving an attempt to catch a soft ‘Vortex’ ball caused Gardner to miss the opening game of the series against New Zealand last Thursday in Mackay.

The current Belinda Clark Medallist brushed off the event at first, but after she was disqualified from the competition, she broke down in tears, afraid she may suffer her eighth concussion of her career.

After being cleared, she made a successful comeback on Sunday, winning player of the match with a 3 for 16 effort that highlighted a disciplined bowling effort in a 29-run victory over New Zealand.

In 2018, the 27-year-old who had four concussions in 20 months went to see a neuropsychologist.

“It’s been nice to get back out there after a weird occasion, a head collision in a warm-up,” she stated. “It was difficult for me to comprehend, but over the past few days, I’ve felt great.

“I’ve had a lot of head knocks in the past; I know when I am concussed and when I’m not.”

Prior to Sunday’s game, the Vortex were nowhere to be seen, with Gardner stating that their pre-game ritual had been adjusted.

“That’s the end of the Vortex for the rest of the tour,” she stated.

Usually content to chase, captain Alyssa Healy chose to bat first on Sunday, making her squad work hard to set the tempo in front of their World Cup defence in Dubai next month.

Although Healy (38 off 25) got off to a quick start, Australia’s innings faltered, and they suffered their greatest collapse in the history of the format when they lost their final seven wickets for 28 runs, thanks to career-best figures of 4 for 20 from Amelia Kerr.

Thanks to Australia’s bowlers, 142 proved to be more than enough. Gardner, nevertheless, hopes for better results from their last practice on Tuesday in Brisbane before their trip to the United Arab Emirates.

“There’s still a lot left in the tank; hopefully in this last game if we do bat first we can put a massive total on the board,” she added.

The side’s amazing batting depth meant that Annabel Sutherland came in at the fall of the sixth wicket, thus she declared there were no excuses.

“Sutherland at eight is pretty ridiculous,” she replied. We’ve never performed in Dubai, so we’re kind of venturing into uncharted territory when it comes to playing there for Australia.

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“However, we believe our bowling unit is strong enough to contain them because we have a manageable total of 140. “The skill we possess, in all facets … it was pretty clinical.”