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Earl Eddings played 272 games of Premier cricket for Northcote and North Melbourne CC’s and soon moved into administration as President of North Melbourne – at one point he was President, Coach and major sponsor of the Club all at the same time! He subsequently joined the Cricket Victoria Board, became Deputy Chairman and was subsequently elected to the Board of Cricket Australia for 13 years, including a term as Chairman which included guiding the organisation through the aftermath of “sandpaper gate “ in South Africa and the traumatic period of COVID-19 that almost ruined Australian cricket financially. We discuss all of the above including Earl’s personal playing career, his thoughts around the growth of women’s cricket, the potential privatisation of the BBL/WBBL competitions and also discuss the issue of concussion management through the lens of HIT IQ and the benefits of the development of technology in mouthguards that are now being widely used in a range of sports both here in Australia and globally.  Hit IQ website

Kate was a member of the Australian U25 women’s cricket team that toured India in a ground breaking tour in 1975. We talk about the tour 50 years on and the impact of it in transforming women’s cricket in India. We also discuss Kate’s career for Victoria , her career with the ABC covering both cricket and hockey , two cricket legacy projects she is working on and her professional career since 1986 as an Art Consultant creating art eco-systems across a wide range of sectors and particularly in Health, Mental Health and Correctional Services. 

Nick has worked across a number of sports with Cricket Victoria, Cricket Australia, the AFL and Football Victoria specialising in programs around multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion. Nick has strong connections to the wonderful Sunshine Heights Cricket Club with four sons who play the game (including Peter Hatzoglou who has played in three BBL Champion teams) and who also has a fascination for ancient history and sport. 

Anna is one of CWOB’s inaugural players from 2011 who has gone on to enjoy a celebrated career in Victorian Premier Cricket and currently sits in fourth position for the all-time number of games played. Anna was elected Captain of the famous Melbourne Cricket Club at just 18 years of age and has embarked on a wonderful cricket journey with the MCC, Dandenong and Monash University Cricket Clubs as well as spending two seasons playing with the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club in England. Along this journey Anna has played in two premierships with the MCC and has also fallen in love with coaching where she has coached Victorian underage women’s teams and has now embarked on a program which sees her assisting the Victorian Emerging Players Program. Apart from her cricket and studying physiotherapy Anna is a Health and Wellbeing Coordinator for senior citizens at retirement villages. 

Jenni is an Australian woman who grew up in Holbrook, NSW but now living in Bedfordshire in the UK  with her daughters and husband, all of whom enjoying the game of cricket. Their local club is Ampthill Town CC and Jenni like many other volunteers, is fully immersed in the club as a scorer, team manager and Umpire. Along the way has been an interest in writing and she has written two children’s books about cricket with a third on the way. We discuss all of the above and, of course the upcoming Ashes Series! 

Following the tragic death of Australian sporting icon Shane Warne, his family and close friends, including Helen, established “The Shane Warne Legacy” that provides free health checks for all Australians.   Helen previously worked as Shane’s PA for 15 years and during a sometimes emotional discussion we hear some of Helen’s fond memories of Shane, how they first met and their “brother /sister” type relationship, notwithstanding she worked for him. The Shane Warne Legacy has some wonderful partners and with this support has now provided free health checks to over 360,000 Australians and along the way has assisted in saving lives – we hear of some heartfelt letters of thanks to Helen from some people who have taken the test and just in the knick of time for their long-term health! Truly a heartfelt chat with Helen that I am sure everyone will enjoy!       Shane Warne Legacy website  

Trudy, an Australian, has been in the role at Cricket Scotland for just under two years after an extensive career in leadership roles across international and domestic cricket and cycling, working in diverse cultures and environments. As the first female CEO of Cricket Scotland, Trudy is leading a significant cultural transformation alongside a structural and governance change across the sport. Earlier this year, Trudy launched Cricket Scotland’s Women and Girls Action Plan which we discussed along with learnings from some of her early mentors in sports administration, as well as the issues facing Scotland and other ICC Associate Member Countries. 

Malcolm has had an illustrious career in sports administration. A lawyer by profession, he has held senior executive roles with the National Basketball League, Cricket Australia, the International Cricket Council, among others.  He is also the co-founder of the Sport Environment Alliance and has held board positions with the Australian Sports Commission, Golf Australia, the Victorian Council for Fitness and Health and his beloved Richmond Football Club. We have an excellent discussion about the challenges and high points in Malcolm’s career, the growth of women’s cricket and Malcolm’s thoughts around private equity investment in sport.

Dinesh moved from India originally to play cricket in Malaysia and in the manner of dreams come true, liked the country and the people so much that he stayed! He commenced working for the MCA as a Development Officer in 2009, moved his way up through the ranks and was appointed CEO in 2023. Dinesh has a strong ambition to see Malaysian cricket–both male and female teams qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup within the next three years. We have a wonderful discussion around the structure of cricket in Malaysia, what the MCA is doing to promote cricket in schools for boys and girls, the support provided by the MCA to help them further their education, the hosting of the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup in January this year. Finally, Dinesh talks about the recent appointment of the highly successful coach, former Victorian and Australian player Dav Whatmore as the MCA’s Director of Cricket and National Coach of the Women’s team.

Dr Sarah Fane OBE studied medicine at Bristol University and during this time travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan and again to Afghanistan in 2001 under the Taliban Regime. In 2002, Sarah established the charity, Afghan Connection which subsequently supported some 500,000 children with health, education and cricket including the renovation of 130 schools and the construction of 110 cricket pitches in schools and disability centres. In 2020, Sarah accepted a newly created role of Director of the MCC Foundation, based at Lords. We have an enthralling discussion about her time in Afghanistan, the wonderful work of her charity and now the passion she has brought to the MCC Foundation helping children not only in England but around the world in countries like Nepal, Lebanon, East Africa, Sri Lanka and South Africa.   Sarah is also an honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club. MCC Foundation website

Bhavi was born in Zimbabwe in a family of Indian origin and encountered a range of cultural experiences just to be able to play the game.  She represented WA and the Perth Scorchers before moving to Melbourne to join the Melbourne Stars and Victoria and in so doing represented the Ringwood Cricket Club, twice winning the Una Paisley Medal for the best player in the Cricket Victoria Women’s Premier Competition. After three years in Melbourne, Bhavi returned to Perth and founded her own business, The Inside Edge Project, working with athletes and teams creating culturally-aware, psychologically safe spaces for growth.

Harry spent almost 30 years with the Australian Defence Force most of which was with Australia’s elite Special Air Service (SAS) as a Team Commander and Team Specialist. He completed 11 active service deployments and was wounded in action in 2008. Harry now runs a human performance consultancy working with sports teams (including Collingwood FC), the military and industry. In 2020, he released his memoir, titled “Eleven Bats”, a book about his military service and his love of cricket and described by ABC Cricket Commentator Jim Maxwell as “ a compelling story of combat, survival and backyard cricket in a war zone.” In a wonderful discussion across many subjects we also hear about the Eleven Bats that are now on display in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Alana is widely-regarded as the best leg spin bowler in world cricket today (male or female) and has drawn comparisons with the great Shane Warne. Growing up in Melbourne, Alana was a very talented young sportswoman excelling in tennis, softball, baseball and cricket. Fortunately, she chose cricket as her primary sport and you'll hear about her journey in the sport from club cricket, to her first professional contract at aged 16 representing Victoria, Western Australia, Australia and various overseas franchise teams. Along the way, Alana toured with Cricket Without Borders on a number of occasions and we also learn a little about some of her experiences and the impact of CWOB on her career.

Emma is a long-time friend of Cricket Without Borders (CWOB) of many years and who was one of the key people instrumental in securing the evacuation of the Afghan Women Cricketers and some officials in 2021 following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021. She also worked very closely with CWOB around the organisation of the historic cricket match on the 30th January between the Afghani Women and Cricket Without Borders . Emma has had a long career working in the sports industry and along with Mel Jones co-founded “Its Game On” in December 2021. She is a strong advocate for the development of gender inclusive strategies in sport and again with Mel Jones is a strong advocate for “Pitch Our Future” which aims to raise $1.5 million to fund an initial 3-year program to assist the Afghani cricketers and their families with educational scholarships and specialised coaching support.         Donate to Pitch Our Future here

Louise has done it all in the game of cricket and more! We hear about her wonderful career that began at school and then progressed to represent her State(s) and country but that was not enough as she has given back to the sport as an administrator and now pursuing a career in umpiring.  In between all of her cricket career Lousie has also served in the police force and the Army Reserve including a tour of duty in Afghanistan which we hear about.  Louise now works for Tennis Australia in their Integrity Unit which we also learn about in a fascinating chat.