Meet Australian Allrounder Ashleigh Gardner All Set To Play At WPL 2023

As a cricketer for the national women's squad, Indigenous Australian Allrounder Ashleigh Katherine Gardner was born on April 15, 1997.   Gardner plays for New South Wales in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL), the Sydney Sixers in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), and the Gujarat Giants in the Women's Premier League as a right-handed batsman and right-arm off-spinner (WPL).

She has won three global and four national championships with her separate teams. She has also received several individual honours, including the Belinda Clark Award.

Ashleigh Gardner, an aggressive middle-order batswoman who can also bowl off-breaks, has impressed everyone with her talent.

Ashleigh Gardner At WPL 2023

Gardner's breakout year was 2015. A young prodigy, Gardner attracted notice when she led New South Wales to victory and finished first in runs at the under-18 Cricket Australia Championships. She also won Player of the Series honours. Later, when she won Australia's coveted Lord Taverners Indigenous Player of the Year award, she made history by becoming the first Indigenous woman to do so.

She maintained her momentum when playing for the NSW Breakers in the 2016–17 domestic season, taking nine wickets and scoring 98 runs in five games. She received a national call-up shortly after, and in early 2017, she made her T20I and ODI debuts for the Southern Stars against New Zealand. Later in the year, she contributed significantly to Australia's World Cup campaign and Ashes' success. She continued to lead the WBBL run-scorers chart in the second season, finishing with 414 runs for the Sydney Sixers.

The development of all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner has continued, and the Muruwari lady had been chosen as the winner of the 2021–22 Belinda Clark Trophy as Australia's top foreign player.

Gardner made her ODI debut against New Zealand shortly after making her T20I debut against them in February 2017.

Being the second woman and third Indigenous player to play a Test match for Australia, she earned her Baggy Green in 2019 from fellow First Nations player Dan Christian.

At the beginning of her playing career, Gardner made an immediate impression. In January 2015, she led New South Wales to the championship and topped the runs total in Cricket Australia's Under-18 Championships, earning her the title of Player of the Championship.

She represented Australia's development team, the Shooting Stars, and earned Player of the Tournament in the 2015 Imparja Cup before the national selectors took notice of her prowess with the bat and ball for the Sydney Sixers.

Gardner, who has won two T20 World Cups with Australia, is a vital player in all three forms with her strong batting and deft off-spin.

On the field, Gardner strongly supports First Nations people and culture. In 2020, she established the Ashleigh Gardner Foundation, which strives to give Native kids a healthy start to the school day.

She was purchased by Gujarat Giants on February 2023 at the first WPL auction at 3.2 Crores.

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