As I desperately sprinted towards the stumps – and some of my all-time favourite cricket players – in the middle of the SCG in front of 25,000 people, my first thought was, “What the hell have I signed up for?”
My second thought, in between feeble and mortifying gasps for air, was: “I wonder how long Brad Haddin will need his water bottle before I can steal it? I definitely need it more than he does.”
I had just made my first dash out to the middle with the team’s water – the job of any cricket team’s twelfth man, or spare player, when there’s a wicket.
Sixers staff and Karleigh (second from right) celebrate the lauinch of the Woman’s Day Girls’ Night Out with batsman Ed Cowan last week.
Because Woman’s Day and the Sydney Sixers had joined forces to create a girls’ night out theme for the cricket on Sunday night, as the most rabid sports fan in the office, I was asked to be the honorary “twelfth woman” for the team.
It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I immediately signed up for and excitedly told anyone who would listen (my mum, mainly), until I remembered that I get nervous in front of crowds and hadn’t been for a run since before Christmas.
But, in the name of fearless journalism, my lifelong love of cricket, and the fact that I have always followed the the Sydney Sixers because they boast the likes of Australian legends Haddin, Doug Bollinger, and Nathan Lyon, I knew I had to have a crack.
Hanging out with Dougie Bollinger after the Sydney Sixers played Brisbane Heat at the SCG.
Turning up at the hallowed Sydney Cricket Ground, I was kitted out in the team’s unmistakable magenta uniforms (which exactly match the iconic Woman’s Day logo, perfect, huh?) and taken to the pitch.
In between meeting the players, I nervously watched the seats fill up.
I’d been told that 50 per cent of the fans at Sixers games were women, but on this night, to my untrained eye, there appeared to be more women and families than men at a traditionally blokey sport – exactly what the Sixers and Woman’s Day wanted to see!
All too soon, the Sixers went in to field and I waited, panicking internally, for their first wicket to fall, which was my cue to race out with the water bottles.
The real twelfth man, Ryan Carters, was off like a shot as I trailed behind him, marvelling at how quick he was.
I forgot to breathe, so by the time we arrived at the celebrating Sixers (with a few of the guys I hadn’t met doing a double take at the random girl in the middle of the pack) it was all I could do not to pass out.
On the way back, Carters asked how the heart rate was. I don’t think I even made a sound when I tried to respond and also breathe.
Once I got over the initial shock at the pace of it all, I started to get excited at the prospect of another wicket.
Over the rest of the innings, I managed to keep up with Carters and only vaguely tripped over the boundary rope once – which had been my biggest fear all along.
When I told my cricket-mad mum that batsman Ed Cowan had even patted me on the back and said I’d done a good job, I don’t think she’d ever been more proud of me.
Karleigh was more gripped by the action than batsman Jordan Silk, who was busy photo-bombing in the background.
The players couldn’t have been more welcoming, and to sit in the bunker with the Big Bash team I’ve been supporting since the league’s inception was incredible.
Hearing the banter between the boys, seeing the nerves of the younger players, and even watching a few tantrums (but what happens on the bench stays on the bench, sorry!) was fascinating to me, as someone who, like record numbers of Australians, has been glued to the telly all summer watching them play.
Particular shout-out to Ryan Carters, who very patiently showed me the ropes and probably ran slower so I could keep up (note to self: GO RUNNING MORE).
Karleigh with the real twelfth man, Ryan Carters.
In return for his help, do me a favour and check out his charity, Batting for Change – he and plenty of the game’s legends are raising money to help educate disadvantaged women in the cricket-mad nations of India and Sri Lanka.
It’s a cause us girls, cricket-loving or not, should get behind!
Watch the inspiring video about his work below.
For more information on the Sydney Sixers, visit sydneysixers.com.au.
