Alex Blackwell

Alexandra Joy Blackwell (born 31 August 1983) is a former professional cricketer and Australian women's cricket captain who played for New South Wales and Australia as a specialist batter. After making her international debut in 2002–2003, she went on to play more matches for Australia than any other female cricketer in history. A highlight of Blackwell's career was captaining the 2010 Women's team to World Twenty20 victory.

In October 2017, she made her 250th international appearance for the Australian women's cricket team. In November 2019, she announced her retirement from cricket, after a career that spanned 18 years. Her identical twin sister Kate has also played for Australia.

After retiring from cricket, Blackwell returned to her previous career as a genetic counsellor. Her memoir, Fair Game, was published in 2022.

In 2013, Blackwell became the first female international cricketer to publicly come out as gay. She has been a passionate advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and represented Cricket Australia in the 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. She has also been a vocal supporter of the inclusion of transgender cricketers at all levels.

Early life

Blackwell was born in Wagga Wagga, but raised in Yenda, a small rural town outside of Griffith, New South Wales. She and her identical twin sister Kate attended Barker College on the North Shore of Sydney as boarders.

In March 2000, Blackwell was called into the New South Wales team for the under 17 interstate competition. In the first match, she took 3/7 and wasn't required to bat in a ten wicket victory over Victoria Blue. Her top-score for the tournament came in the sixth match against Western Australia, when she scored 57 not out. New South Wales won all of their eight matches to claim the competition and Blackwell ended with 149 runs at 37.25 and seven wickets at 17.00.

International cricket

2003-04: International debut

Blackwell made her international debut in 2003 in a quadrangular One Day International (ODI) tournament. She had few opportunities with the bat, scoring 54 runs at 27.00 but was unexpectedly successful with the ball, taking a total of 4/34 despite only having one previous wicket at senior level.

She then made her Test debut in a two-match series against England at the Gabba in Brisbane, hitting a half-century in the latter fixture. Following this, Blackwell was retained for the Second Test at Bankstown Oval in Sydney. Australia batted first and Blackwell came in at 4/90. Soon after, her partners Mel Jones and Hayes fell in quick succession as Australia lost 3/13 to be 6/103. Blackwell then added 21 with Cathryn Fitzpatrick before the former was out for 13; this triggered a collapse of 4/10 as Australia were all out for 134. Blackwell came in at 4/49 with Australia still four runs behind in the second innings. She added 136 in 226 minutes for the fifth wicket with Lisa Sthalekar before being dismissed for 58, having hit six boundaries from 236 balls. In pursuit of a target of 206, England reached 6/133 when time ran out. Blackwell did not bowl in the match.

Blackwell retained her position in the national team for the Rose Bowl series, which consisted of three matches each in New Zealand and then Australia. She played in only the third match in New Zealand and did not bat in the seven-wicket win, before being omitted for the first match at home. She was recalled for the second match and made 15 not out in a 40-run win, before her unbeaten 22 guided Australia to a four-wicket win in the final match at Bellerive Oval, as the hosts took out the series 5–1. In the Second Test at New Road, Worcester, Blackwell made 20 and 14 as Australia ceded a 158-run first innings lead and eventually lost by six wickets after Blackwell's fall in the second innings left them at 5/46, still 112 runs in arrears. where she ended the series with 83 runs at 41.50. In the final match, she made 91 to help steer Australia to their target of 250 and a series-clinching eight-wicket win. The match was drawn as the hosts ended at 3/106. In the first two matches, held at the Adelaide Oval, she made 51 and 34 as the hosts won by 115 runs and six wickets respectively.

The ODIs were followed by three T20s at Bellerive Oval in Hobart and two more in New Zealand at the start of the second phase of the bilateral contests. Blackwell played in every match and Australia was whitewashed. The three matches in Hobart were closely fought; Blackwell made 11, top-scored with 40, and added 26 as New Zealand won by two, one and seven runs respectively. The hosts won the last two matches in New Zealand convincingly by 59 and 17 runs; Blackwell made 9 and 8 as the Australians were bowled out for 73 and 98. In the first warm-up match against New Zealand, she opened the bowling with her occasional medium pace, and took 1/29 from her four overs, dismissing the opposing captain and opener Aimee Watkins. Australia went on to win by three runs.

2015: Ashes In June 2015, Blackwell was named as one of Australia's touring party for the 2015 Women's Ashes in England.

2017–18 Blackwell playing her final innings for Australia during the 2017–18 Women's Ashes Test at North Sydney Oval. The wicket-keeper is Sarah Taylor. Blackwell was in Australia's squad for the Women's Ashes. In the first WODI of the series she came to the crease when Australia were 4/87, still requiring 144 runs for victory. She batted for the rest of the innings, getting to a total of 67 and steering Australia to victory in the final over of the match. In the third WODI of the series, she played in her 250th international match for Australia Women.

Retirement In February 2018, Blackwell announced her retirement from international and state career. She featured in 251 matches across all three formats in a career spanning for 15 years. She has written that she sees herself as having been a "good international cricketer", but not a "great" one. She also does not think that she can make a judgement as to whether she was a good leader; "... only my peers can." However, she also feels that she had been her "true self", had spoken up, with respect, to others in the cricketing community in seeking continual improvement, and had "... kept on trying to be the best leader [she] could." Blackwell scored three centuries, During the first two of those centuries, both made in 2008, No. Runs Opponents Venue Year 1 101 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia 2008 2 106* Manuka Oval, Canberra, Australia 2008 3 114 Manuka Oval, Canberra, Australia 2016

Personal life Blackwell's nickname is "Seal". She has explained that the origin of the nickname is "... a story which involves the misquoting of lyrics from the Go Go's song 'Our Lips Are Sealed'." Her wife is fellow cricketer Lynsey Askew.

Blackwell is a passionate advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and represented Cricket Australia in the 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Following this, Blackwell also obtained a Graduate Diploma in Genetic Counseling from Charles Sturt University, and Graduate Certificate in Reproductive Medicine from UNSW. She currently works as an Associate Genetic Counsellor at Sydney Children's Hospital and The Royal Hospital for Women, Randwick.