An Indian touch to women's 'Ashes'

NEW DELHI, February 29: In the hullabaloo of the IPL tamasha, a fascinating sub-continental angle to the women's Ashes contest escaped the attention of most cricket lovers. In a one-off Test match played between England and Australia last week, the centre of attraction were two players of Indian origin: Isa Guha of England and Lisa Sthalekar of Australia.
Guha, a 22-year-old biochemistry graduate who loves listening to rock bands Oasis, Razorlight and U2, scalped nine wickets for 100 runs - five for 40 and four for 60 - at the Bradman Oval in Bowral, Australia.The outstanding performance not only fetched her the player of the match award but also helped England triumph and retain the Ashes.
Even Sthalekar, the 28-year-old Pune-born Australian vice-captain, was busy receiving awards. Earlier this week, she was voted the Australian Player of the Year for the second year in succession for her consistent performance. Sthalekar, who bats at No. 4 and bowls off-spin, too had a sterling game at Bowral scoring 100 runs (2 and 98) and taking four wickets for 97 (three for 48 and one for 49).
In an email interview to TOI, Guha treasured the wicket of captain Karen Rolton. "She is the backbone of the Australian side and can easily change the momentum of the game by scoring quickly," she said.
The match also had a PIO vs PIO angle. Guha, a right arm medium pacer, got Sthalekar in the first innings and took her catch in the second. "Sthalekar is an extremely talented, thinking cricketer. She always leads from the front and takes no prisoners. I particularly enjoy playing against her as she always provides a challenge," says Guha, who has been playing for club cricket Bankstown in the Sydney premier grade league from October after getting her degree in London. She adds: "In Australia, I have just been working as a waitress as well as doing some coaching work. As for my future, I have been looking into a PhD in science, possibly lab work, working for my father and also being involved in cricket," says Guha, whose father supplies refrigerated cabinets to the retail food industry in the UK.
Sthalekar is a major in psychology and religious studies from Sydney University and works full time for Cricket New South Wales as high performance coach. The New South Wales allrounder polled 50 votes to narrowly beat South Australian Shelley Nitschke (47) and Queenslander Melissa Bulow (21) for the Australian award.