Australia’s Ice Queen Jess Jonassen hopes to put Women’s T20 World Cup snub aside, with focus on ODI WC return

For Australia, Jonassen has often been the difference between victory and defeat, swinging close games in her side’s favour but was overlooked for the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Jonassen (centre) has seen a few seasons change now and failure doesn’t shake her, despite being an emotion this Australian squad is not very used to. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini/The Hindu

It’s not for nothing that Australian all-rounder Jess Jonassen has earned nicknames like ‘Ice Queen’ and ‘Captain Fudge’ over the course of her storied career.

In the Aussie green and gold, she has often been the difference between victory and defeat, swinging close games in her side’s favour. She’s defended targets – big and small – often in death without so much of a bead of sweat on her forehead. A fully fit Jess Jonassen has never missed a World Cup for the Aussies.

But 2024 would test her like no other. Not only did she find herself benched with the think tank favouring Sophie Molineux instead, but she also missed the T20 World Cup squad, having been a part of every other triumphant campaign for her side.

“I’m only human,” Jonassen had at ABC International Development’s Cricket Commentary and Mobile Journalism workshop earlier this month.

“It’s challenging. I’m obviously disappointed to have missed out but I am proud of myself in that there was literally nothing more I could have done to get selected. I performed well in different competitions around the world whether that be the WPL or The Hundred.

“It’s challenging to be missing out on my first ever T20 World Cup but I am focusing on the positives. I get to be back in Australia captaining my state which is something I’ve missed out on for a while. Australian players haven’t usually been available for our 50-over domestic competition. To be able to do that and give back to a team that’s given me so much and just being able to go out and enjoy being out on a cricket field…

Door open, blinds shut?

“I’ve learnt that all I can do is control what can be controlled and forget about what I can’t. Selection has been one of those things, but what I can control is my performance my attitude and my work ethic. I’m doing all I can so none of that can be questioned,” Jonassen explained.

When Hayley Matthews sucked the wind out of her sails in the bilateral T20I series between West Indies and Australia, Jonassen didn’t realise it would be the beginning of one of the hardest phases of her career.

The Brisbane Heat skipper registered troubling economy rates of 10 (2 overs in the 1st) and 17 (2 overs in the 2nd, but with Matthews wicket in the bag) which forced the management to move her out of the playing XI in the 3rd T20I. Sophie Molineux, returning from injury, eventually slotted in for Jonassen who has since been relegated to drinks duty when picked.

The team management constantly maintained that the door remained open for the all-rounder and that they were happy with the fight she was putting up. But Australian selection is a dog fight and Jonassen was left licking her wounds after being overlooked for the Women’s T20 World Cup.

Jonassen in action during the Women’s Twenty20 Tri-Series Final between Australia and India at Junction Oval on February 12, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

It took her back to how cricket happened for her in Queensland, a journey she described as ‘unique.’

“I just loved every sport and being an Australian, watching cricket on TV or playing cricket in the summer was just what you did. Winter was about football while summer was for cricket. I’m the youngest of three girls in my family. So, I didn’t have the traditional Australian upbringing of playing cricket in the backyard with my brothers. I played either with friends or it was just by myself, bowling to some stumps in the backyard and trying to dodge the dog,” she said.

“I guess young girls in India can particularly relate to my story and probably find it (getting into cricket) harder than some of the things I had to face. But I can empathise with the fact that you sometimes need to work twice or three times as hard just to be noticed.”

The women in the Australian setup are as graceful off the field as they are unforgiving on it. For Jonassen, Molineux in particular was involved in denying her a champion’s medal at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) with her side Royal Challengers Bengaluru surprising the pack to lift its maiden title at the expense of Jonassen’s Delhi Capitals.

Jonassen in action for Delhi Capitals during the Women’s Premier League 2024. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini/The Hindu

The soon-to-be 32-year-old has seen a few seasons change now and failure doesn’t shake her, despite being an emotion this Australian squad is not very used to.

“The Aussie mentality in general is to just give everything a go. The worst thing that can happen to you is you may be bad at it, but you might find something you’re really good at too. This is something the Australian dressing room has mastered in the years gone by - embracing all these quirks of those here and understanding that not everyone is the same. Everyone is ultra-competitive. It doesn’t matter if you’re out on the cricket field or you’re in the pub and somebody has more of a drink than you do. You want to be first.”

Imposter syndrome

That drive has a dark underbelly. “Early on, I used to think that my whole world revolved around cricket and how I performed. I tied my self-worth and sense of identity to it. If I didn’t perform, then I felt I wasn’t good at anything or I wasn’t worthy of whatever it was and I think it took going to some pretty dark places mentally and some low places mentally to realise that.,” she said.

“I’ve learned a lot about gaining perspective. I might get paid and I have a specific job to do but it is just a game at the end of the day and one I happen to be quite good at…”

That maturity also involved learning to blunt the excess emotion that comes with failure and success in sports.

“One thing for me was to try and take emotion out of my decision-making. It’s so easy to have an emotional reaction to something whether that’s good or bad. But try and actually stay as level as you can and, more often than not, you’ll end up getting to the result or your desired result sooner.

“I’ve had to learn to be kind to myself obviously as an elite sportsperson and probably more so being a female. You always say sorry or you always feel like you need to do more. But the opposite might be true. I am good at what I do. I am good, I am educated. That level of empowerment? You’ve got to believe it as well,” she said.

File photo: While Jonassen will undoubtedly cheer for her teammates at the T20 World Cup, she is back at work with Queensland Fire in the Women’s National Cricket League, Australia’s national domestic 50-over competition. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

When the mind wanders, Jonassen immediately reaches for a puzzle or investigative literature.

“Stories with a legal background or a murder mystery… I like those kinds of books. They are the only ones to keep me engaged and have different characters and I find myself trying to solve the mystery as we go along in the story. I have a whole room in my house for such stories, not quite a library though. I carry a lot of my reading to go on my Kindle. But there is a physical book in there somewhere to read when in the dressing room where electronics aren’t allowed,” she explained.

While Jonassen will undoubtedly cheer for her teammates at the T20 World Cup, she is back at work with Queensland Fire in the Women’s National Cricket League, Australia’s national domestic 50-over competition.

If there’s one thing the world knows about Jonassen, it’s that she likes having a point to prove. With an ODI World Cup coming up next year in India, she’ll hope to yank that door to the Australian side wide open.