How Australia won the 2022 Women's World Cup

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Hello, it's Ray Winstone. I'm here to tell you about my podcast on BBC Radio 4, History's Toughest Heroes. I've got stories about the pioneers, the rebels, the outcasts who define tough.

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And hits the ball in the air. CRIES of Catch it. This could be the moment for Australia. It is Ash Gardner at mid off takes the catch that sees Australia crowned as World champions. A stream of green and gold runs onto the field and now a huddle embracing one another to celebr a remarkable achievement. Five years ago they crashed out of the semi final stage. They rebuilt, they came back stronger and a side that has lost just 2:50 over games in the intervening half decade now claim the World cup, beating England by 71 runs. In Christchurch, Nat Siva is left stranded. She's played brilliantly. But the best side in the world will be lifting the World cup trophy. Australia have won the World cup.

So the 2022 Women's World cup hosted in New Zealand was an unusual tournament, not least because it was hosted in the shadow of the COVID pandemic. Sides had to quarantine, New Zealand being one of the countries with the stricter rules in terms of entry to the country. So lots of time was spent in hotel rooms, teams finding innovative ways of making sure they kept their fitness levels up before the tournament got underway in early March. 20. It was eventually won inevitably perhaps by Australia, who comfortably beat England in the final with Alyssa Healey playing a Quite startling innings scoring 170 as Australia won by 71 runs. Alex Hartley, a World cup winner with England the previous tournament in 2017, was there commentating on the competition. Theon Wynne was writing for the BBC Sport website. I'm joined by both Alex and Fion now. Alex, you and I went through the quarantine. We did lots of laps up and down the car car park which was our only allowed exercise at certain points in the day. And it was looking back, a weird old time.

Yeah, it's one of those where you just said we were going to talk about 2022. I was. I don't really remember it, to be honest with you. And then you've brought back all the memories of the quarantine. We had to do 10 days, but ended up doing seven, didn't we? We got out a little bit early, but, yeah, we were delivering coffee to each other's rooms at about midday. We were trying to sleep as long as possible and then we were on Deliveroo trying to get a coffee to each other and then it'd turn up cold and you'd have to reorder. Yeah, it was a strange time of life, that World cup, and for the.

Teams involved, Fion, how do you even begin to prepare for a competition like that?

Yeah, it was a really odd one because England had the Ashes just before it, didn't they, obviously, in Australia. So for those players in particular, it also didn't affect Australia too much because they won everything. But I think, you know, in the group stages of that in particular, I think we could really see the toll that that took on England. They lost three games in the group stage. I think their first three games, West Indies being a big surprise in that.

Shrubsal waits for Muhammad, comes forward and she's bowled. That's it. England have lost disbelief on both sides. England, the reigning champions, humbled by West Indies, who together embrace, celebrate a famous victory. They've never beaten England at a World Cup. And suddenly the champions, beaten twice in two games and rocking in this tournament, West Indies win by seven runs in a thriller. Shrubsall is bold, advancing down the track. The England dressing room has barely moved over to our left. It is a party of those in maroon at the far end of the ground, celebrating a victory that will be heralded around the world in women's cricket.

As one of the biggest upsets that World cup cricket has seen.

I think we're all thinking, yeah, they're exhausted. They're a really kind of. This. This has taken its toll and it's not easy. And, you know, perhaps they're starting to get a bit weary and then obviously, you know, scrape through the. To the final in the end with a big win over South Africa. But, yeah, in terms of preparation, I was speaking to Lauren Bell a few days ago and she was a reserve in that World cup and she was saying, bless her, that she actually got Covid right at the end. So they were all ready to go home after about three months away from home and she had to do another week just by herself in a room, having just. England just lost the final. I just thought, yeah, that was a lot for people to deal with.

Yeah, I remember all the girls after that try and make sure that they can get on their plane and get home because the last thing anybody wanted to do. And poor Lauren Bell Hencowen actually ended up staying with Belly out in New.

Zealand, the media manager.

But no one else obviously wanted to stay, so everyone was doing all sorts to try and make sure they can go home.

Amazing, wasn't it? And looking back, it scarcely seems believable, some of it. And the conditions under which, no, not just the tournament, but sport and major events that had to go through to continue during that time. So the competition itself worked with eight sides playing around Robin, So lots of matches, each team playing each other once. So seven group matches apiece. Top four qualifying for the semifinals. Now, the big surprise, Fion, was that India didn't make it through to the semi finals. It was West Indies who actually haven't qualified for the 2025 edition of this tournament, but West Indies who made it in alongside Australia, South Africa and England. And so India falling short, which was a shock.

2 needed from 4. Here comes Goswami running into bowl to Beth Mooney, hits the ball down the ground for four, wins the game for Australia. And after all that tension from the penultimate over another superstar in green and gold does the job to get the world's best side over the line and.

Through to the semi finals. India took them close, but just not close enough.

Yeah, it was a big surprise, especially because, you know, the, the 2017 World cup, which was the previous edition, obviously was quite some time ago, but, you know, they'd built a lot of momentum, India, in terms of expectation, they'd reached the final in 2020 as well in the, in the, in the T20 World Cup. So there was a lot of kind of hopes and thinking that this could be the year that either they win it or they go on to really challenge it. They had, I think, a knockout. It was almost a knockout game essentially against South Africa, which they didn't get over the line. And then that meant that West Indies having beaten England. And also just shows how much has changed from their point of view, the amount of players that have stepped out of that side that, you know, as you said, they're not even here now. So they've gone from a top four finish to. So not even making it out of the qualifiers.

Yeah, it was remarkable that they had fallen away in that, in that fashion in that time. Teams can have bad tournaments, I suppose, Alex.

Well, yeah, of course they can for India. Look, I think they were going through that transitional stage back in 2022. They're a lot more settled now. You know, their starting 11 is a lot more settled. They've earthed a lot of new players, young players from the WPL that have come in. So, yeah, for me, 2022, it was a big shock that the West Indies qualified and India didn't, but. But on the other hand, West Indies had a lot more experience compared to India at that stage.

So the four semi finalists were Australia, who won all of their matches. South Africa who came second in the group, having lost only the one game. England, who scraped through. They lost their opening three. They had no margin for error, but they got on a little bit of a roll despite very nearly losing to New Zealand in a thrilling game played in Auckland. Anya Schobsel scoring the winning runs right at the end, as she had done in the semi final four years, five years earlier, rather. And then the West Indies, who won three and lost three, won, no result. And they qualified ahead of India, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Pakistan. So those semi finals, England having lost against South Africa in the group stages, well, they were dominant in a match played at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, beating South Africa in the end quite comprehensively to win by 137 runs. Danny Wyatt scored 129 and South Africa were bowled out for just 156 wickets for Sophie Ecclestone in that game. And it looked at that point like England could be in a really strong position for you.

Yeah, it was one of the first kind of tournaments that I worked on in my role and it was. The times weren't particularly friendly.

You were back home because there was a limit to how many people could get into New Zealand.

Yeah, yeah. So we were at home starting shifts at about midnight 1am and after England lost all those three group stages, they were getting more and more difficult to kind of, oh, gosh, we've got to get up and go through all of this again. And then you kind of thought, yeah, they've beaten South Africa, who'd beaten them in the group stage, thought they've put this behind them, they've scraped through. And I think, you know, you do build some momentum when you get. Get to that sort of position, having not played at your best at all. Because you then think, well, if we can reach a final having not played our best cricket, then imagine what's going to happen when we do. But obviously, you know, Australia probably had the easier semi final in terms of West Indies. West Indies certainly had the much more difficult semi final, having to. To try and be. But England, yeah, in that final, they were always going to be up against it. But you did think, you know, Australia the favourites, England the underdogs, if they can kind of use that to their advantage, could they sneak over the line?

But it wasn't to be England in that semi final. Danny Wyatt, a real coming of age. It felt like despite being a player that had played well over 100 matches, it felt like a sort of really defining innings for Danny Wyatt.

Tryon again. Wyatt on 99. She goes back, she finds a gap on the offside. She's running to the non strikers and she's there. Danny Wyatt has 100 in the world cup semi final is the air. It's a wonderful moment. She's had a nomadic England career. She started life as an off spinner. She's been up and down the order. She's been dropped in each of the last 2:50 over World Cups. But this might be her finest hour in an England shirt because she could be taking them to the World cup final. 198 balls.

Hello, it's Ray Winstone. I'm here to tell you about my podcast on BBC Radio 4, History's Toughest Heroes. I've got stories about the pioneers, the rebels, the outcasts who define tough.

And that was the first time that anybody ever ran a car up that fast with no tires on. It almost feels like your eyeballs are gonna come out of your head.

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Well, it was one of those where she'd batted in the middle order for such a long period of time. And Lisa, before that semi final, the head in 2022, said, do you fancy opening the Bassett? And she's openly come out and said, yeah, of course I do. It's the best place to bat. And she, she took that with both hands, didn't she, scoring her 130. Well, 129. And basically scored the bulk of the runs along with Sophia Dunkley for England to get up and around. 300. So, yeah, look it, Danny Wyatt's had a strange career because she's played over 300 games for England. She's been exceptional. But you are right that that innings at the top of the order, you're almost like, okay, here's a new Danny Wyatt. Here's like a new evolution of her and her game.

She was brilliant, as was Sophie Ecclestone. South Africa fell away badly and in the end had to had to head home from the tournament, having qualified for the semi final but not getting any further. The other semi final, Australia against West Indies, played in Wellington at The wonderful Basin Reserve. So convinced, Alex was I, that South Africa, that Australia were going to win the game. I remember, I think we might have had some strange sort of cabin fever at that point. I bet our colleague Stefan Schem, give him all of my shoes that I had with me on the trip if there was a way that West Indies would beat Australia. So certain was I that that was not going to happen. And Australia, with Elissa Healey scoring 129, were just too strong for West Indies, who were all out for 148. Australia winning by 157. It felt quite predictable in the end.

Australia were always going to win, as you knew, Henry betting all your shoes. And we were just talking about that and you're like, do you remember? And I was like, I sort of remember you betting a shoe, but I don't remember it being all of them.

It was all of them.

Yeah, yeah. Because now I sort remember Stefan thinking it'd be brilliant to see you having to walk home through the airport with no shoes on. So I do kind of remember that. But you were right with that bet, weren't you? Australia just were just too dominant throughout that tournament. They didn't lose a game. Playing against the West Indies, you almost felt like that was a certain win for Australia had they come up against England or South Africa. It was almost one of those way. You never know, something strange might happen. England, for me, we're going to be the only team that could challenge Australia. Even though they hadn't had a decent run of games at the start of the World cup, they got a bit of momentum towards the back end, but West Indies ultimately too poor.

Theon, at that point, you're looking at Australia having won all of their matches, qualified for the final, and you're thinking, well, sometimes teams do end up having a wonderful time of it and then fall at the final hurdle. Look at India and the tournament a year later. But it never felt in some ways, once Australia has shown that level of dominance, that they were going to fall at the final hurdle.

Yeah, they're just completely ruthless and it's almost. They. They almost rewrite the rule book, don't they? In terms of. You have these kind of cliches of, oh, do you need a couple of games to be under pressure or a couple of close games or to lose a game in the group stage just to kind of keep you on your toes a bit, which we usually say about England and we usually say about India, but it just doesn't seem to apply to them. They just have A mentality of winning and winning and winning. And you know, they have shown in the past that when they, when they do lose, for example, in 2017 when they lost to India, they, they don't take it very well. They just kind of, they just get better and they find ways to make sure that that doesn't happen again. So, yeah, I think in terms of the kind of expectations that we apply on other teams, in terms of making it through a long tournament where there's a lot of group stage games, they don't really apply to them. I don't think they've done it so often that we kind of think they're just going to keep winning until maybe one day they won't.

Yeah, it's a strange one, isn't it? And I think leading into that tournament, Australia were definitely favourites. Obviously England winning the previous tournament, we were all really excited as English media out there back in England to go all the way. And when they lost their first three, it was always like, right, okay, they've got to bounce back and they've got to bounce back quickly. But yeah, Australia were favourites going into that World cup and they played out of their skin in the final, didn't they?

Well, they did. And I'm going to go to the toss.

Heather Knight, the captain of England, will call and Meg Lanning, the captain of Australia, will toss the coin.

Tails, please. Tails.

And it's a tails. Heather, you're going to have a bowl first.

We sat in the commentary box ahead of that toss and thought the only way that England win this is if they bat, bat big and see if Australia crumble. Chasing a big target, the coin went up. England won the toss and elected to bowl. Australia piled on 356 for 5. Elisa Healey scoring 170 off just 138 balls. And at the halfway stage, you sort of knew the game was done. But it was an astonishing performance from Australia's opener.

Yeah, it was. I remember hearing we're going to have a bowl and having to rewind my tally to did I hear that right? They're, they're going to bowl. Really? As you say, you, you know, there's again another cliche of runs on the board in the final is kind of what you want. And I think I can't. I don't think Alyssa Healey could believe her luck in terms of what Heather Knight had offered her. But she's a big game player, isn't she? She scored I think 75 off about 30 balls in the, in the 2020 World cup final in front of that packed crowd, that home crowd that they had. And she loves those occasions. And I think she must have been thinking, you know, with a wry smile, thinking, I'm gonna make you, I'm gonna make you pay for this decision and I'm gonna score 170. And she was, she was sensational.

Cruxol's ball into Healy, swinging a miss. Now she's stumped and she's out. And that is the end of one of the most brilliant innings you could ever wish to see in a World cup final. Alyssa Healey has crashed a magnificent 170 from 138 deliveries. All of the England players are congratulate her. And the entirety of the Hagley Oval in Christchurch rises to acclaim Alyssa Healey's wonderful innings. She's finally out for 170, Australia 316 for 2.

England had no answers to her. And I think, you know, she's so well backed up. The likes of Rachel Haynes and Beth Mooney in that final as well, scoring half centuries probably would go unnoticed compared to that kind of, that massive performance at the top of the order and, and showing how smart they are. I think they sent in Beth Mooney a bit earlier than intended so that she was the left hander, she could take down Sophie Eccleston. They had every plan and every scenario kind of figured out and they just played it to perfection under pressure, as they so often do.

Yeah, I think the thing that stood out for me was obviously Healey's innings was exceptional, but Rachel Haynes, her strike rate was only 70 and I think that's because she played such important innings with Healey, who was dominating the game, who was hitting the ball to all parts. Haynes could just almost sit in and just rotate the strike. And if she faced a few dots, she, she wasn't feeling pressure because of Healey at the other end. And then Beth Mooney came in and took down Sophie Ecclestone. Like Fion said, I mean, I remember ECCLESTONE Going for 70 and thinking, that's so unlike England. And then going into the second innings, I mean, Australia were just so on top, weren't they?

Yeah, Rachel Haynes actually in the tournament scored 497 runs and only Healey's 509 runs ahead of her third on the run scoring charts in the tournament. By the way, Nat Siva as she was then, not Nat Siva Brunt as she has subsequently become since marrying former teammate Catherine scored one of the great innings that perhaps will be forgotten in a losing cause. 148 not out from 121 balls. It was a stunning innings from Nat Siverbrandt and looking back now, she only needed a couple more partners. I know England fell 70 odd runs short, but she did brilliantly.

Yeah, she was incredible. And probably it will be overshadowed by Alyssa Healey of course, because that was in a winning effort. But in terms giving it a go, I don't think any, any of us thought England were going to kind of get close to that enormous total of 360, whatever it was. But that's the player she is, she doesn't, she doesn't ever give up and she will always kind of fight until the game is over. And that's exactly what she did. But I think that's also the, that is the difference between England and Australia where yes, you have this kind of innings of a lifetime from Alyssa Healey, but she's able to find a couple of people, people to stay with her. Nat Silverbrunt is that world class player in England side but they were just lacking just a bit of stability as Alex said, somebody like a Rachel Haynes to just sit in, absorb the pressure, stick at the other end, get Nat on strike. And they didn't quite manage to do that. And in the end obviously that was an amazing innings. But in the end it was a comprehensive win for the Aussies.

It was the Spinners for Australia that did the damage, wasn't it? It was three wickets for Alana King, three for Jess Jonathan and one for Ash Gardiner. And then all of a sudden it was game over. Nobody else got 30 for England, but I remember seeing Siver Brunt's facial expression. She'd hit a boundary and she'd almost like just sigh and go, okay, still not enough. She'd hit another boundary and she'd be like, still not enough. You'd lose a wicket from one end and she's like, it's okay, come on, just stay with me. Somebody stay with me. Which obviously didn't happen. But I remember the highlights from that game and just Nat and the way she batted was so good to see. But it was just such a shame for England that nobody could stick with her and you know, the top order not scoring runs. Heather Knight scoring 26, Tammy Beaumont 27. And that was really it for England. A 20 for Jones, a 20 for Dunkley and then he went 1, 3, 2, 21 for Charlie Dean. Thought maybe, maybe she could stick around but wasn't meant to be. She was outdone by Ash Gardiner and Australia won the trophy again.

Yep. Once Again, Igna were all out for 285, by the way, with Siva Brunt unbeaten on 148. She just needed somebody to play one big innings alongside her. And who knows what might have happened. But Australia victorious, leading wicket taker, by the way, in the competition was Sophie Eccleston, who took 21 wickets, seven more than the nearest on the list, Chabni Mishmail, the South African, African fast bowler. And so Australia, the champions, once again, a very familiar path for them. And I do remember hearing the story of the following morning. There was a meeting organized for Australia and the team got together and thought, well, what have they organized? What is this? What's the plan? What's the big celebration? And the meeting was right, here's what we did well. Here is how we're going to continue to do well. And this is the business of winning, which is how the side have described it. They can celebrate as well, don't get me wrong. But the way that they reacted was right. We sit down, we analyze, we work out what we did right, and we work out then how we're gonna party.

Yeah, I've spoken to a couple of the younger girls that were there at that World cup and they were like, here we go, breakfast beers, here we go. And it was like, no, no. How can we carry on getting better? And I'm sure they celebrated later on in the day, but it was a first and foremost meeting. And then, how do we get better? But that's what makes him such a dominant side, I guess.

Guess indeed. Australia, the champions. They were absolutely outstanding. They won every game that they played in the tournament. It was a very unusual competition that had to be moved back because of the COVID pandemic. But ultimately it was played in front of wonderful crowds in a wonderful location as well. And across the 31 matches, there were some brilliant games in there to enjoy. The champions were Australia, their seventh title. Runners up were England, a competition that ultimately would see Australia's dominance continue. But plenty of stories in there as well to delight as we move through another memorable tournament as part of the Women's World cup journey.

Hello, it's Ray Winstone. I'm here to tell you about my podcast on BBC Radio 4 histories, Toughest Heroes. I've got stories about the pioneers, the rebels, the outcasts who define tough.

And that was the first time that anybody ever ran a car up that fast with no tires on. It almost feels like your eyeballs are going to come out of your head.

Tough enough for you? Subscribe to history's toughest heroes. Wherever you get your podcast.