Alyssa Healy<\/a> and Ellyse Perry \u2013 the trio who have come to define an era of uninterrupted brilliance that unfolded after dual disappointments at the 2016 T20 World Cup and then the 2017 50-over edition.<\/p>\nIt was in the semi-final of the latter event that Blackwell played what she regards as her finest innings, a rearguard 90 from 56 balls that, with the help of number 11 Kristen Beams, gave Australia a chance to chase down India\u2019s big total.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my favourite things was [my twin] Kate and I were under the lids together in Ashes cricket, either side of the pitch. And it was just so cool to share that with your twin. We were annoying because we stopped everything, and we caught everything, we loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex Blackwell<\/p>\n
Internally as vice-captain, Blackwell had been strong in her opinions that the new leadership duo of Lanning and Matthew Mott had work to do to improve the team\u2019s capacity to think on their feet. Mott subsequently acknowledged that fact, although he and Blackwell clashed at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the best I ever batted, and I had worked so hard in the two to three years leading into that to find more in my game,\u201d Blackwell said. \u201cI found it that day, it was the blueprint I was looking for, and I delivered it, but what\u2019s heartbreaking is it wasn\u2019t quite good enough for the miracle.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFrom that bad run and those losses, it was wonderful to see the team respond, and have a period of dominance where it was almost not very interesting watching the Australian team because they just won so much. When we think of world cricket, the Australian team have never been better, but other teams also have got better, and the competition is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why Blackwell is not perturbed by the fact that Australia have fallen short in the past two World Cups in the UAE and India. She sees those results as proof of other nations, notably India and South Africa, raising their games. At the same time, the global T20 circuit has made for a year-round path for women to improve their games and their remuneration \u2013 Blackwell is happy to see Lanning, for one, take that up with gusto.<\/p>\n
Now 42, a mother, a genetics counsellor, coach at Sydney University cricket club and a commentator, Blackwell is still contributing richly to the game. She says the hall of fame honour is not just for her but also for twin sister Kate, with whom she shared places in numerous Australian teams, including close-in fielding posts where they delighted in mischief-making.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my proudest thing, that we played for Australia together under Belinda Clark, our hero,\u201d Blackwell said. \u201cMy career can at times overshadow what she did, but for anyone to represent Australia, which she did for four years, and she was a part of that change, the first T20 international side, she was equally talented.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOne of my favourite things was Kate and I were under the lids together in Ashes cricket, either side of the pitch. And it was just so cool to share that with your twin. We were annoying because we stopped everything, and we caught everything, we loved it. You didn\u2019t even have to sledge, you\u2019d just talk across the batter … it was a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark was the first woman inducted in 2014, and last year she was on the panel that chose Blackwell. They’re part of a sisterhood that brought the women’s game to the forefront of cricket, slowly at first, before the revolutionary progress made in Blackwell’s time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a cup of coffee on a number of occasions now with [former captains] Muriel Picton and Miriam Knee,\u201d Blackwell said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to talk to them and see what the game looks like now through their eyes as opposed to what it was back then.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a joyful thing, whatever era you\u2019re in. Now Miriam, Muriel and I can sit back and watch so much cricket on TV, and it\u2019s awesome. Knowing we\u2019re each a part of the stepping stones for the game. It really does feel like we\u2019re an equal part of things now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex Blackwell<\/p>\n
12 Tests, 444 runs at 22.2, four 50s<\/p>\n
144 ODIs, 3,492 runs at 36, three 100s, 25 50s<\/p>\n
95 T20Is, 1,314 runs at 21.19, one 50<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian cricketing great Alex Blackwell.Credit: Getty Images for Cricket Australia \u201cI\u2019m very proud of Australian cricket because I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-480353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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