During pre-Test media duties, Australian quick Lauren Cheatle was asked what would be on top of her Christmas list. “A Baggy Green,’ the response came, needing no thought at all. For any aspiring cricketer, representing your country in the most cherished format of the sport is a special accomplishment, a pot of gold to which the track is riddled with sticks and stones.
Cheatle was no stranger to international cricket. As a sprightly 17-year-old, she had made her T20I debut against India in 2016 and was even part of the Australian side which played the T20 World Cup here that year. In 2019, she returned for an ODI series against New Zealand but fell off the map since. All thanks to her own body.
Lauren Cheatle was ecstatic after getting her maiden Test cap | Photo Credit: Getty Images
In 2017, Cheatle had a right shoulder reconstruction, after which she suffered a back injury. She then had her left shoulder reconstructed in late 2019 after which she needed surgical intervention on her bicep too. Cheatle could not watch the game from the sidelines so she took up a part-time job working with children with disabilities.
In 2021, she underwent surgery again after being diagnosed with early-stage skin cancer after spotting a lump on her shin. The experience was particularly hard on her given she had grown up seeing her parents battle lymphoma and bowel cancer at different stages of their lives.
In the process, cricket became more than just a game.
“I remember my brother and I used to play mini-Tests when the cricket was on TV, in the breaks we’d go in the backyard and one of us would always be England or Australia, and we had these fake little Baggies that we’d put on. So if there is an opportunity to wear a Baggy Green, it would be unbelievable,” Cheatle told cricket.com.au.
She returned to the game in 2022. A year later, she turned in impressive performances with the Australia A side touring England (she took 11 wickets) and in the Women’s Big Bash League with the Sydney Sixers, finishing as joint leading wicket-taker with 21 scalps. Her bigger win perhaps was putting together a full season in top physical shape.
While dealing with her injuries Cheatle remembers the support of Sixers coach Ben Sawyer and Ellyse Perry who’d take her out coffee or do whatever they could to distract her and make her feel better. Therefore, it was only fitting that Perry would be the one to hand Cheatle her maiden Test cap in Mumbai.
Lauren Cheatle receives her debut cap from Ellyse Perry of Australia at the start of day one of the Women’s Test Match between India and Australia at Wankhede Stadium | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Cheatle’s battle with health oscillated between the comfort of knowing cricketing bodies can mature late(like Pat Cummins who has managed better fitness as he got older) and the frustrations of losing out on time in the game. Life came full circle for Cheatle when Ellyse Perry handed her maiden Test cap in the very country where her international career began seven years ago. And after beating all odds, this Aussie Cheat-code is just getting started!
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