Investment 101: Gap so big Australia’s second XI could have won the World Cup

As brilliantly as Australia carried off the World Cup trophy in Christchurch after thumping the West Indies and England in the semi and final, the brutal truth of the matter is that the national women’s second XI would have been good enough to do likewise.

The gap between Australia and the rest of the world is not only evident in talent terms, but in vast investment and systemic planning. It’s all driven by the realisation at Cricket Australia that it was no longer tenable to wait around for the women’s game to draw big crowds before spending significant dollars to grow it.

When national coach Matthew Mott pondered how seamlessly the Australian side had coped with injuries and COVID-19 absence during the Cup, he cast his mind back to 2017 – the year of their World Cup elimination in the semi-finals – and the fact that was also the stage at which Leah Poulton was employed as the first full-time manager of talent coming through the systems below the top team.

Matthew Mott, Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes bask in the aftermath of their World Cup victory in Christchurch.Credit:Getty Images

Looking through some of the names Poulton oversaw in those first couple of years – Heather Graham, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham, Tahlia McGrath, Maitlan Brown, Annabel Sutherland, Ash Gardner, Sophie Molineux – is to see the young core group who will now ensure Australia remain strong even after the likes of Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning retire.

“There was this thought a while back now that ‘when the product is there we’ll start investing’ and of course that’s just madness,” Poulton, now the head of women’s cricket for Cricket New South Wales, told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s not a case of waiting for crowds to come in and all of a sudden using that revenue to grow your product, because you really need the investment upfront.

“It’s not a quick thing, there’s no silver bullet to it. Investing in your domestic structures really pays dividends in the long-run, but it’s not a six-month fix. It takes a lot of money and a lot of time, but the rewards are there.”

Those investments were being made even before CA enjoyed the windfall of the 2018 broadcast deal with Foxtel and Seven that effectively doubled the game’s administrative war chest. To a degree, too, starting small also helped the likes of Gardner and McGrath in getting exactly what they needed.

“It was only a small squad, so we were able to give that really bespoke attention to them,” Poulton said. “What are they going to need in two, three, four, five, or 10 years’ time, let’s see if we can start to address that now so they’re good to go in a high-pressure environment like a World Cup.

The Australian women’s team celebrates after defeating England in the World Cup final.Credit:Twitter

“When those players got their opportunity they were ready – they didn’t take 20 games or half a dozen series for them to go ‘OK I get what this is about’. These players would have made it anyway – they were talented enough, they were destined for great things. But the pride I have in those programs is [that] we made that transition a little bit more seamless for them.”

In some ways, the foresight to broaden the contracting system beyond the national squad to include state and WBBL deals paid off for administrators during the frustrations of COVID-19. Australia’s players, even when stranded in their home states, could call upon high-quality training and development to ensure the 2022 50-over team were as strong and well-rounded as the 2020 T20 side that made the MCG their own.

“The way the states are set up now is far more professional,” Poulton said. “The girls are still part-time, but a lot of states now are set up with full-time staff so the players can go in and access full-time coaching, strength and conditioning, [and] physio, when maybe back in 2017 a lot of the states weren’t there and the role CA played in developing a talented athlete was far greater.”

Worryingly for the rest of the world, Poulton is adamant that more growth and improvement can yet be found. She notes that the state system will gather in strength when more matches are added to the program, regardless of whether they are of the 50-over or long-form variety.

“There’s still so much room for growth,” she said. “The next big thing is to play more WNCL cricket. True development happens in the middle, not in the nets, so the more the girls can play, the better.”

For Poulton, there is the added insight to be gained from watching her partner, national vice-captain Haynes, do all the unsung preparatory work that put her in a position to be Healy’s ideal batting partner in New Zealand.

“I’m absolutely elated for Rach, I see how hard she works, and the time and energy she puts into it,” Poulton said. “What she does, not only for her but for her teammates, and I’m just thrilled for her. It’s a great reward for what she’s put into the game for so long.”

Australia, then, have stolen a march on the rest of the world. How long they remain ahead will largely depend upon how true they stay to the succinct words of Healy: “Investment works.”

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