Before winning her three grand slams, Barty had a stint as a professional cricketer – and she was a compete natural
By Richard Edwards for The Nightwatchman
George Orwell wrote that all animals were equal but some were more equal than others. The same applies to athletes. Some of them have an almost unearthly ability to turn their hand to whichever sport they fancy. Just ask anyone who watched Ash Barty – the women’s world No1 tennis player who has retired as the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion – turn a cricket whim into a full-time contract with the Brisbane Heat in 2015.
What started as a conversation at an awards dinner for Australia’s women – during which a teenage Barty spoke about the pressures of being on the international sport hamster wheel – turned into a spell that reignited her fledgling tennis career and changed the way that Queensland Cricket prepared its players. She did not know it at the time but Barty was embarking on a journey that would change her life.