An inspiring discussion with Cheryll about Fairbreak Global and its mission to progress equality on a truly global scale, using cricket as a vehicle to do so. 

Cheryll has been CEO of Fairbreak for just over 18 months and has as her aim to nurture people as individuals or collectively to move forward on their chosen path and to empower people by giving them the tools/capacity to take the next step with newfound confidence. 

Fairbreak Global is certainly doing just that through their invitational tours which now have ICC approval and involve players and umpires from ICC Associate countries as well as full members countries. 

Fairbreak is committed to pushing the envelope, breaking down barriers and driving positive change, one match at a time, inspiring action towards a more equitable future for all. 

You can certainly hear Cheryll’s passion to this commitment in this podcast as she also outlines her vision for the future which will hopefully include matches here in Australia. 

This is a wonderful chat with a woman who is changing the landscape for girls and women’s clothing in the sport of cricket. An American by birth who has lived in London for the past twenty years Leigh actually saw her first game of cricket in Australia but years later when her daughter started playing the game in London, Leigh could see that the players uniforms were totally tailored for boys. 

She set about changing the landscape for young girls and women for both their onfield clothing and off field team wear and is succeeding ! 

This is a wonderful discussion not only about her desire to provide bespoke on and off field uniforms but also how Leigh has developed a portal for female players to access all the information required about girls/women’s cricket and has also engaged the assistance  of former England player Lydia Greenway to assist her.    

Marcella has done it all from a young woman playing the game at club level, representing her State, an administrator for the Victorian Women’s Cricket Association, working for Cricket Victoria and now the Co-ordinator of Women’s Cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Club as well as being the team Manager for Cricket Without Borders on a number of tours. 

This is a most enjoyable discussion with someone who has given everything to the sport and continues to do so with a great passion for the game of cricket.      

Tanya Gallina is the General Manager, Commercial Operations and Partnerships and has enjoyed  a wonderful career in professional sport at the Hawthorn and Carlton AFL Clubs, Melbourne Victory and is now a member of the senior management team at the MCC. 

We discuss the evolution of the MCG from a pure sporting venue to an entertainment venue, the amazing ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup Final along with the documentary that was produced about the Final. 

There are many critical partnerships associated with the management of the MCG  including government, commercial partnerships and the various users of the venue including cricket and football franchises along with concert promoters and all fall within the scope of Tanya’s role at the MCG.     

Olivia is the CEO of Cricket ACT ( Canberra) and has had an extensive career in high performance sport at the Australian Institute of Sport and then at Cricket Australia. We discuss Olivia’s love of cricket from a you ng age which has stayed with her and her desire to continue to grow the game in the ACT and provide a welcoming environment for all who wish to be involved in the sport in whatever capacity they choose and irrespective of their background .We also discuss some of the unique partnerships Qlivia has developed for women’s cricket and cricket in general through her role as CEO.

Jenny also featured in Episode 4 of our Podcast – this Episode is a special one for CWOB as Jenny travels to Fiji with the support of CWOB – we have a special relationship with Fiji having undertaken two tours there and had an opportunity to meet and play against their women’s teams and have developed a strong relationship with Cricket Fiji. On this tour Jenny meets many of their players and undertakes a number of school visits.  

Cath has had a lifelong involvement in the game of cricket and has a strong connection with the Pioneers Victorian Women’s Cricket Association which we talk about as well as the 150 th Anniversary of the first game of women’s cricket in Australia which is to be held on the 29th March in Bendigo which is where the first game was played in 1874.

Cath provides some good background around the first match and the “Pioneers”!     

Links:
Cricket Without Borders website

David is the Librarian at the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) Library at the MCG but had a close connection with former Victorian and Australian “great” in Betty Wilson regarded in her time as the “female Bradman”.

Among her many accolades Betty Wilson is a member of the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame, the Australian and ICC Cricket Halls of Fame and an Honorary Member of the Melbourne Cricket Club.

In a fascinating discussion David talks about his family connection to Betty Wilson and takes us inside the life of  Betty Wilson.

Links:
Cricket Without Borders website

Alan is the Head of Cricket Operations at the Japan Cricket Association a position he has held since 2015. Alan has been instrumental in managing the growth of the sport at the grass roots level and now oversees all cricket throughout the country and the operations and logistics that go with having three National Squads.

In 2012 Alan also wrote a book titled "Cricket on Everest" after helping to arrange a game of cricket on the slopes of Mount Everest!.

Links:
Cricket Without Borders website

A fascinating discussion with Benafsha Hashimi who is a young Afghani woman who fled her home country of Afghanistan along with other members of the Afghani women's cricket team in 2021 when the Taliban took control of the country.

Benafsha has now settled in Canberra with other members of her family who also fled Afghanistan with her and is now pursuing her new life with much enthusiasm which also includes playing cricket.

Benafsha was also a highly valued member of our CWOB team that toured Fiji in September 2022.
 
Links:
Cricket Without Borders website