Ashleigh Gardner has revealed her record-breaking 12 wickets against England came while battling ligament damage in her spinning finger during Australia’s Ashes Test win.
Gardner was the star of Australia’s 89-run victory over England at Trent Bridge, bagging 8-66 in the fourth innings to help bowl England out for 178 and end their pursuit of 268.
The haul left her with the best-ever figures by an Australian woman, and the second best of all time behind Neetu David’s 8-53 for India against England in 1995.
Gardner’s match figures of 12-165 were also the second best in history to Shaiza Khan’s 13-226 for Pakistan from 2004, and the best of any Australian woman.
But the more impressive part was the fact she did it with concerns over her right index finger.
Gardner was hit on the end of the finger during slips practice during Australia’s warm-up match against England A, denying her the chance to bowl before the Test.
“My finger obviously bent backwards where it’s probably not supposed to. It’s almost stretched that ligament a little bit,” Gardner said.
“Adrenaline does funny things and I completely forget about it as soon as the ball was in hand.
“So as soon as I wasn’t bowling (at Trent Bridge), I put a splint straight on it, just to protect it because in the field is where I’m more likely to get hit.
“It was quite frustrating but because I didn’t get that match practice in before the Test.
“It was about trusting what I’d already done, I wasn’t going to lose a skill overnight. And know my good stuff was good enough.”
Gardner took all five of England’s remaining wickets on day five to finish off the hosts, ending any chance of the chase and putting Australia in control of the multi-format series.
She also did it off little sleep, after her mind was fixated on finishing off the match.
“I was awake at 3am thinking about bowling, which was a bit tragic,” Gardner said.
“I was wide awake, literally thinking about how I was going to get the batters out and I’ve never done that before.”
Gardner’s performance marked a coming-of-age for her with the ball.
Bowling on a deteriorating day-five pitch for the first time, the 27-year-old took wickets with balls that went straight on, spun sharply, stayed low and reared up.
Once picked as a powerhouse batter, Gardner has now developed into a genuine allrounder and a frontline spinner.
“It has been something that I’ve worked really hard on,” Gardner said.
“With both bat and ball, it’s about consistency.
“I feel like I can play both roles in attacking and then trying to defend with the ball as well. It’s asking the captain, ‘what do you want me to do?’ at that point in time.
“Today is something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life, and certainly for the rest of my career.”
BEST BOWLING INNINGS FIGURES IN WOMEN’S TESTS
Neetu David (India): 8-53 vs England, 1995
Ashleigh Gardner: (Australia): 8-66 vs England, 2023
Mary Duggan (England): 7-6 vs Australia, 1958
BEST BOWLING MATCH FIGURES IN WOMEN’S TEST
Shaiza Khan (Pakistan): 13-226 vs West Indies, 2004
Ashleigh Gardner (Australia) 12-165 vs England, 2023
Betty Wilson (Australia) 11-16 vs England, 1958
