Cricket Without Borders

Emma is a scientist with a long history of working in the hospital and health care industry who has remarkably moved into the sporting goods industry establishing her own company supplying cricket training aids that are suitable for use by children of all skill levels and abilities, including grassroots and juniors, all abilities participants and blind cricketers.

In this episode we discuss the reasons for Emma’s dramatic career change, some of the technical aspects of her equipment and we learn about some of the organisations and partnerships that have been an integral part of her journey thus far.

This is a wonderful story about a person with a non cricket background making a significant impact in the sport and is definitely an episode worth tuning into.

Greg is a former first class player for Western Australia and Tasmania with a formidable record as a high order batsman throughout 112 first class matches. But it is perhaps his subsequent as a coach for the past 35 years in Tasmania, Victoria, NSW and India where he has developed a formidable career with his teams winning numerous titles and Greg has developed and guided numerous players into State and national players while at the same time continuing to develop his own career as a coach as the game of cricket evolves with new formats.

In this episode we discuss all of the above as well as some of the challenges Greg has faced throughout his journey as both a player and coach and his thoughts on the future of the game

Stephanie is the Founder and CEO of Fempro Armour.

Originally from Germany we discuss Stephanie's move to Australia, her career as a professional swimmer, a trek across the Simpson Desert to raise funds for a charitable organisation "Dolly's Dream" and then her establishment of Fempro Armour which is a business providing protective equipment especially fro women and girls playinga number of sports, including cricket, AFL, rugby, rugby league, motorcycle riding and other contact sport.

In a role reversal, Clare talks to Ken about his career and achievements at Cricket Victoria, what compelled him to help Clare in the establishment of CWOB, the highlights of the past 15 years and some thoughts about the future of women’s sport generally.

As we celebrate our 50th podcast and the fifteenth anniversary of Cricket Without Borders, it is appropriate to return to the Founder and Chair of Cricket Without Borders, Clare Cannon.

While Clare reflects on the achievements of CWOB in that time, she discusses some of the highlights from tours gone by as well as some of the more recent tours to Fiji and Malaysia and also discusses the wonderful occasion when CWOB played the Afghan Women’s team in January ‘25 which led to a subsequent visit to Canberra and a visit to Yarralumla for morning tea with the Governor General.

We also reflect on some of the changes in women’s cricket more broadly over the past fifteen years, and finally we discuss one of Clare’s other great passions in her life, being her family farm“Woomargama”.

Ian Cover is one of the co-founders of the “Coodabeen Champions” who have taken a look at sport on the lighter side for around 40 years on radio; Ian is also passionate about the sport of cricket and a supporter of Taverners Victoria and in particular their Geelong branch.

A masterful MC for corporate functions, Ian had a long association with Cricket Victoria and particularly as the MC for the renowned Lindsay Hassett Club luncheons for over twenty years where he interviewed most of the biggest names in cricket and other sports in Australia.

In this Episode, he takes us for a wonderful trip down memory lane!

Clare Haysom is a dynamic young umpire on the rise within the cricket community.

Having only commenced her umpiring career in community level cricket in 2019, Clare has quickly risen through the ranks into Premier Cricket and beyond, already having officiated in a number of premier matches, WBBL , WNCL , National Age Championships, Australia A v England A and has just recently been selected to officiate in a women’s Under 19 tri–series competition between Australia, Sri Lanka and England.

We hear about how Clare’s journey in umpiring began, some of the obstacles along the way, and her aspirations for the future.

We also hear about some of the skills and attributes Clare has in her professional life as a teacher of science and physics that can be helpful when she sets foot on the field as an umpire.

Deanne is a lifelong member of the North Geelong Cricket Club along with her husband, parents and three children.

Eleven years ago, along with her father, Deanne established a girls' cricket program at the Club which has now grown to have four teams. In addition to establishing the program Deanne has coordinated the program for nine seasons and coached various teams for three seasons as well as serving on the Geelong Cricket Association Junior Girls League Executive Committee.

Not resting on her laurels, four years ago Deanne established an All Abilities team at the cricket club, and what an inspirational initiative this has proven to be, and has been warmly embraced by the whole club.

We hear from Deanne about the benefits these decisions have provided not just to her cricket club but the broader community as well, along with some advice for other clubs who may and should consider doing likewise.

Ron Woods is a high-performance cricket coach based in Sydney with extensive experience in women’s cricket having progressed to appointment within the Cricket NSW Academy coaching framework and internationally. His coaching career spans club, private, state and international environments underpinned by a clearly defined performance methodology and athlete-centred model.

Earl Eddings played 272 games of Premier cricket for Northcote and North Melbourne CC’s and soon moved into administration as President of North Melbourne – at one point he was President, Coach and major sponsor of the Club all at the same time! He subsequently joined the Cricket Victoria Board, became Deputy Chairman and was subsequently elected to the Board of Cricket Australia for 13 years, including a term as Chairman which included guiding the organisation through the aftermath of “sandpaper gate “ in South Africa and the traumatic period of COVID-19 that almost ruined Australian cricket financially.

We discuss all of the above including Earl’s personal playing career, his thoughts around the growth of women’s cricket, the potential privatisation of the BBL/WBBL competitions and also discuss the issue of concussion management through the lens of HIT IQ and the benefits of the development of technology in mouthguards that are now being widely used in a range of sports both here in Australia and globally.

Hit IQ website

Kate was a member of the Australian U25 women’s cricket team that toured India in a ground breaking tour in 1975. We talk about the tour 50 years on and the impact of it in transforming women’s cricket in India. We also discuss Kate’s career for Victoria , her career with the ABC covering both cricket and hockey , two cricket legacy projects she is working on and her professional career since 1986 as an Art Consultant creating art eco-systems across a wide range of sectors and particularly in Health, Mental Health and Correctional Services.

Nick has worked across a number of sports with Cricket Victoria, Cricket Australia, the AFL and Football Victoria specialising in programs around multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion.

Nick has strong connections to the wonderful Sunshine Heights Cricket Club with four sons who play the game (including Peter Hatzoglou who has played in three BBL Champion teams) and who also has a fascination for ancient history and sport.

Anna is one of CWOB’s inaugural players from 2011 who has gone on to enjoy a celebrated career in Victorian Premier Cricket and currently sits in fourth position for the all-time number of games played.

Anna was elected Captain of the famous Melbourne Cricket Club at just 18 years of age and has embarked on a wonderful cricket journey with the MCC, Dandenong and Monash University Cricket Clubs as well as spending two seasons playing with the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club in England.

Along this journey Anna has played in two premierships with the MCC and has also fallen in love with coaching where she has coached Victorian underage women’s teams and has now embarked on a program which sees her assisting the Victorian Emerging Players Program.

Apart from her cricket and studying physiotherapy Anna is a Health and Wellbeing Coordinator for senior citizens at retirement villages.

Jenni is an Australian woman who grew up in Holbrook, NSW but now living in Bedfordshire in the UK with her daughters and husband, all of whom enjoying the game of cricket. Their local club is Ampthill Town CC and Jenni like many other volunteers, is fully immersed in the club as a scorer, team manager and Umpire.

Along the way has been an interest in writing and she has written two children’s books about cricket with a third on the way.

We discuss all of the above and, of course the upcoming Ashes Series!

Following the tragic death of Australian sporting icon Shane Warne, his family and close friends, including Helen, established “The Shane Warne Legacy” that provides free health checks for all Australians.

Helen previously worked as Shane’s PA for 15 years and during a sometimes emotional discussion we hear some of Helen’s fond memories of Shane, how they first met and their “brother /sister” type relationship, notwithstanding she worked for him.

The Shane Warne Legacy has some wonderful partners and with this support has now provided free health checks to over 360,000 Australians and along the way has assisted in saving lives – we hear of some heartfelt letters of thanks to Helen from some people who have taken the test and just in the knick of time for their long-term health!

Truly a heartfelt chat with Helen that I am sure everyone will enjoy!

Shane Warne Legacy website

Trudy, an Australian, has been in the role at Cricket Scotland for just under two years after an extensive career in leadership roles across international and domestic cricket and cycling, working in diverse cultures and environments.

As the first female CEO of Cricket Scotland, Trudy is leading a significant cultural transformation alongside a structural and governance change across the sport.

Earlier this year, Trudy launched Cricket Scotland’s Women and Girls Action Plan which we discussed along with learnings from some of her early mentors in sports administration, as well as the issues facing Scotland and other ICC Associate Member Countries.

Malcolm has had an illustrious career in sports administration.

A lawyer by profession, he has held senior executive roles with the National Basketball League, Cricket Australia, the International Cricket Council, among others. He is also the co-founder of the Sport Environment Alliance and has held board positions with the Australian Sports Commission, Golf Australia, the Victorian Council for Fitness and Health and his beloved Richmond Football Club.

We have an excellent discussion about the challenges and high points in Malcolm’s career, the growth of women’s cricket and Malcolm’s thoughts around private equity investment in sport.

Dinesh moved from India originally to play cricket in Malaysia and in the manner of dreams come true, liked the country and the people so much that he stayed! He commenced working for the MCA as a Development Officer in 2009, moved his way up through the ranks and was appointed CEO in 2023. Dinesh has a strong ambition to see Malaysian cricket–both male and female teams qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup within the next three years.

We have a wonderful discussion around the structure of cricket in Malaysia, what the MCA is doing to promote cricket in schools for boys and girls, the support provided by the MCA to help them further their education, the hosting of the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup in January this year.

Finally, Dinesh talks about the recent appointment of the highly successful coach, former Victorian and Australian player Dav Whatmore as the MCA’s Director of Cricket and National Coach of the Women’s team.

Dr Sarah Fane OBE studied medicine at Bristol University and during this time travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan and again to Afghanistan in 2001 under the Taliban Regime. In 2002, Sarah established the charity, Afghan Connection which subsequently supported some 500,000 children with health, education and cricket including the renovation of 130 schools and the construction of 110 cricket pitches in schools and disability centres.

In 2020, Sarah accepted a newly created role of Director of the MCC Foundation, based at Lords.

We have an enthralling discussion about her time in Afghanistan, the wonderful work of her charity and now the passion she has brought to the MCC Foundation helping children not only in England but around the world in countries like Nepal, Lebanon, East Africa, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Sarah is also an honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club.

MCC Foundation website

Bhavi was born in Zimbabwe in a family of Indian origin and encountered a range of cultural experiences just to be able to play the game.

She represented WA and the Perth Scorchers before moving to Melbourne to join the Melbourne Stars and Victoria and in so doing represented the Ringwood Cricket Club, twice winning the Una Paisley Medal for the best player in the Cricket Victoria Women’s Premier Competition.

After three years in Melbourne, Bhavi returned to Perth and founded her own business, The Inside Edge Project, working with athletes and teams creating culturally-aware, psychologically safe spaces for growth.