An oral history of the 2026 T20 Women's World Cup

The external noise was building, and it was not entirely unfair.

Australia's women's cricket team was used to holding every trophy it possibly could. But after losing in the semi-finals of both the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup and the 2025 ODI World Cup, the pressure was something that needed to be addressed.

While the core of the group remained from those two tournaments, the 2026 T20 World Cup squad had some key changes. The two biggest moves were the boldest calls. One was bringing in 20-year-old quick Lucy Hamilton, who had only made her international debut a few months prior. And the was appointing Sophie Molineux captain in all formats following the retirement of Alyssa Healy. It was a selection call met with sharp criticism from many.

Molineux’s capabilities and leadership credentials were clear, but so too was her lengthy injury history.

There were points to prove for this team, but more importantly, silverware to regain. On both fronts, a reestablishment of dominance needed to be enforced at Lord’s.

The big moments had to be seized, and to do that, previous failings needed to be assessed, and new mantras devised to help take the group forward.

"We spoke as a group (about the previous two tournaments), but I reckon (there was) a lot of external noise around Australia not winning the previous World Cups, which we didn't really buy into. Every tournament that we go into, we think we can win it. That's why we're there."

"There was so much noise around (how) we hadn't won any trophies. There was an expectation that Australia has to win everything. That was external noise. That wasn't necessarily the noise from within. We had a lot of belief within our group that we could win another trophy."

"You hear all the chatter, but even when I wasn't a part of the group, I just thought: Jesus, it's blown out of proportion...  I thought it was all a bit of hot air, to be honest."

"The last two World Cups we participated in, we lost in the semis, and the big focus was about managing pressure moments and winning them. And it took a lot of vulnerability from the group to speak about how we feel in those moments and why sometimes it hasn't gone right for us."

"I felt like we did live in this period as a team where we were thinking about the past, I suppose, and the last two World Cups feeling really different for us and not walking away with any silverware. We got to a point where we had to put a line in the sand." 

The turning point from those discussions produced two words that really stuck with the group in different ways, and ultimately would embody not just what success would look like to this team, but how the team would get there.

It was all about 'freedom' for the batters and being 'brave' for the bowlers.

"When we came up with them, it was 'T-Mac' (Tahlia McGrath) and I sat in a room with all the coaching staff. I feel like words on a page are always fantastic … but actually having something that you can live and breathe when you're out in the field, and having something to turn back to (is what you want).

"For us it was. 'What are those words that are really going to encapsulate everything? Talking about specific skills, and then actually when we're in the heat of the moment, what are the things that are going to resonate with individuals?'"

"Sometimes you have a lot of values and words and things that you know don't land, but these ones particularly did."

"When you think about freedom, you think about it as a personal innings that you've had, how free you felt and everything was just flowing, and you obviously always wanted to go like that, but it doesn't always.

"And then, the word 'brave' with the bowling. Especially in T20 cricket, you've got to try and stay one step ahead of the batter, and you've got to be brave in doing that."

"Those two words really resonated with me, and I think resonated with everyone. (It's) quite satisfying when you can really personify those and believe that you're capable of that, and then you've got all your teammates backing you in to do that.

"I'd take those words very seriously in(to) my game in terms of how I play and taking the game on, moving it forward, and putting the team into a better position than I left."

"I knew that with the brave part, it really stuck with me with bowling and obviously being new to the group as well.

"It worked out really well with Soph being able to run up to me in between overs and talk about plans and even just give me a pat on the back and say I'm doing a good job. Even just moments like that, it was like 'OK, I'm taking this brave side and putting it into my bowling'."

"When we're at our best, we're putting bowlers under pressure, and you sort of have to throw the first punch in order to do that. It takes a bit of guts to do that, whether you're moving around the crease or trying to access a different part of the ground."

"It's something as small as 'Belzy' (Sutherland), for example, reversing now. 'Pez' (Perry) is lapping, little things like that. They don't need to play those kinds of shots. They've got every shot in the book, but they're constantly improving to stay ahead of the game. And when they pull that out in the game, you can tell that that's playing with freedom and with bravery.

"Equally with slower balls, bowlers are bowling them in the power play. Even first ball of their spells, like it's nothing.

"I know cricketers probably understand that. Yeah, going to those options are risky, and you can get out, and that's the batter's worst nightmare. Or you get hit for six. So to take that on and know that the whole team's backing you – that's quite a cool feeling."

"All words aside, all values aside ... (there) was just an overall commitment to what we were trying to achieve as a group, and then really taking a lot of personal responsibility in that to manage any moments that were difficult, or as a team when we're under pressure, really coming together and managing that as a group.

"I think we did a lot of talking about that, but then to put it into action was super cool. It was a special experience."

"We played three unofficial warm up games against South Africa … and then had two more warm-up games. So it felt like we played a lot of cricket before we even played a real game. But I think that gave people a sense of calm and comfort in knowing that we were heading in the right direction with the way we wanted to go about it."

"There's always hunger around the group. We had a good lead-in to it, and then just got on a roll. Obviously that first game against South Africa was huge for us, and I think the group took a lot of confidence from that."

Australia’s path to glory was riddled with tough challenges. India, Pakistan, Netherlands, Bangladesh and South Africa sat in their group, with the Laura Wolvaardt-led Proteas the first game of the campaign.

To say that game was circled as a key match-up wouldn't do it justice. So how fired up was the team?

"Everyone was up and about for that game, for sure."

"We had a really tough group with South Africa and India. And then playing South Africa first after having just played them (three) times in the lead up – we knew it was a massive game."

With Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail leading the charge, South Africa couldn't have gotten off to a stronger start. Georgia Voll was dismissed in the first over and out strolled Phoebe Litchfield.

Twenty-four balls was all it took for Litchfield to make her impression on the game, scoring 50 and putting together a strong partnership with Ellyse Perry.

Georgia Wareham showed the same guts, smashing a quick-fire 32 and taking three wickets to guide Australia to an emphatic 65-run first-up victory.

"Watching Phoebe bat in that first game, she hadn't played a lot of cricket up to the first World Cup game against South Africa, and she batted with complete freedom – she took the bowlers on.

"Two of the best bowlers in the world, she made them look silly at times. There's a lot of freedom just naturally that comes with the way she goes about her cricket, but they were all very calculated options and just smart cricket shots as well." 

"To win that certainly felt like a bit of weight off the shoulders."

"I felt like the two World Cups that we'd lost in the semi-finals, in the lead-up to that, we'd been playing some good cricket, but probably hadn't been playing our best cricket. And to put a real marker out there in that first game of the World Cup against one of the best teams in the world really set a precedent for us going through that tournament, knowing that if we can beat them the way we did, we can do that to any team.

While Litchfield and Wareham got the plaudits externally, captain Molineux had been pivotal too, dismissing South Africa's openers to immediately have the team firing.

"Soph's got some really special skills in terms of her leadership, and a big part of that is just her ability to make everyone feel incredibly included and involved in what we're trying to achieve."

"Her calmness and ability to connect with the group (are her biggest assets). I think she's probably one of the best at that. in terms of leaders I've played under, (with) her connection with the group and just calmness on the field too. She's got unbelievable cricket smarts, which speak for themselves."

"We were doing a lot of travel via bus, and at the end of those long trips, we'd have a team mobility session just to try and mitigate any injuries or things popping up.

"Sometimes it's tough when you've been sitting on a bus for ages to drag yourself to something else. Soph dressed up as Jane Fonda in a 1970s outfit to go and lead a mobility session, just to make sure everyone was still having fun and enjoying themselves. She puts herself out there at the expense of being the centre of a laugh. But she does that for everyone else's entertainment."

Australia worked its way through the group stage comfortably from there, delivering heavy defeats to Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Pakistan. But a final group game against India loomed as another meaningful test in the redemption arc.

"The last round game at Lord's against India was a special game."

"We didn't need to win that game to lock in the semi-finals, but we could knock India out."

It was 20-year-old Hamilton who took the new ball and got things started for Australia.

"She would have been nervous in her first World Cup. But you can't really tell with Luce. She's very cool, calm and collected, and I think that showed in the way she came in and started the tournament. She bowled really well and probably didn't pick up the wickets she wanted.

"In front of a packed house at Lord's, she opened the bowling against a few of the best in the world, and just looked so at ease."

With Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur all making 30 or more, Hamilton’s economy proved to be a huge factor in ensuring India couldn’t post a monster score.

Hamilton had ticked off the brave part. Then came the freedom.

"We were chasing 170, and probably needed 10 an over for 10 overs. Ash (Gardner) and 'Pez' (Perry) came together and I think a message got sent out like, 'Do the best you can, don't stress. We've locked our spot in'.

"I think the message back from Ash and Pez was, 'Nah stuff that, we're going to try and win this game'. So that was a great lesson in mindset and what the team is about.

"Pez and Ash grabbed the game and batted beautifully and got us over the line and knocked India out, which was cool."

The reward for a dominant group stage performance? A spot in the semi-finals, where they had faltered at their last two attempts.

But the dominant run continued as Gardner, Molineux and Wareham combined for six wickets, restricting West Indies to just 125 runs. 

Mooney (61 from 36) and Gardner (35 from 20) were both unbeaten in a rapid chase where the Aussies wrapped it up with a whopping 42 balls to spare.

"When we got to the semi-final, no-one really said it, but I think in our heads, the thought was: We've lost the last couple, (it would) just be nice to make this final.

"And so once we beat the West Indies, it was never spoken about, but (it) just felt like there was a bit of a weight lifted off our shoulders, and we could just go out there and enjoy the final."

The semi-final hoodoo dispersed with, but it was to be more of the same when it came to the final at Lord's.

Even Molineux's pre-game address on the nursery ground at the back of the venue touched on that.

"The message to the group was around, 'We don't have to be or do anything different to what we've done … the only thing that matters is the next ball."

"It was almost this feeling of like 'God, let's stop talking ... we've done enough talking. Let's go out and smash it.'

And as soon as we won that toss, we were winning that game."

Australia chose to bowl first and dismissed openers Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt-Hodge cheaply. Then came the revered Nat Sciver-Brunt.

"For the majority of that innings, we bowled really well and did really well to restrict them to 150.

"I think the way Nat Sciver-Brunt played, potentially… (she) didn't get going as much as she wanted to and probably didn't time them as well as she would have liked. And I thought: If she's struggling at times, is there something in the wicket that maybe we don't know about?"

Sciver-Brunt top scored with an unbeaten 58, but her strike-rate of 109 highlighted how well Australia had done to restrict her. Around her, Alice Capsey departed for 23 before Garth dismissed veteran Heather Knight for just two.

Garth had felt as though she'd been bowling well in previous games without taking bags of wickets. Then the nerves got to her a touch in her first over against England, but it all changed in the 11th over with a full delivery on middle stump.

"The most satisfying moment for me personally would have been getting Heather Knight out in the final."

England wrestled back some momentum towards the back end as Freya Kemp mustered 44no to back up Sciver-Brunt, but Australia was in the box seat.

"I think we're reasonably confident chasing 150. I remember someone saying (as we were) walking off, 'If you'd given us 150 at the start of the day, I would have taken it'.

The way the girls went out and played, I think 'Volly' (Voll) hit the first ball over mid-on, and then I was like 'We're gonna be OK'. And then 'Moons' (Mooney) just doing what she does. She's just so clutch."

Mooney indeed was clutch, piling on 64 while Litchfield smashed a quick-fire 48. The two departed, leaving the veterans in Gardner and Perry to finish the job. But it wasn't an easy watch in the latter stages for some.

"I was upstairs, but then I came downstairs to be with the group, and then I can't remember how many runs we needed.

"But we lost a wicket, and I was like, 'We don't need many runs'. But you know how you pad up when you're two from being in? And I was like, 'Oh no, I'm gonna have to run all the way back upstairs (and pad up in the changeroom)'. Anyway, it went to a review. Wasn't even out (laughs). So I ran upstairs, got my stuff, and then I ran back down. That was a bit of a stressful little period."

"I was on the bench sitting next to Soph and 'Wolf' (Wareham), which was a nice moment for the Vics." 

"At the start we were up the top, and Kimmy Garth is a worrier during finals, and she was pacing up in the changerooms. But we made the call that we had to go down(stairs) because we needed to be field side for the finish."

"I'm a very nervous watcher. I literally couldn't sit down in the changerooms. I was pacing up and down. But I think after the power play I was pretty confident in just the way the girls took that on, and made 150 look reasonably easy in the end."

In the 18th over, Gardner picked up two runs and took Australia firmly within striking range. Then, in something of an anticlimax, Sophie Ecclestone conceded five extras thanks to a wide.

Australia finished 3-153 with plenty of time and seven wickets to spare. The trophy was secured.  

"It's always a really cool feeling to be out there for the winning moment. And there were so many things that we wanted to change throughout in the lead-up to that World Cup, and just to play the cricket we wanted to.

"And I think we showed throughout the tournament what we were capable of, so I guess to have that cherry on top for all the hard work we've done in the lead-up, to be out there with Pez to seal that game was a really cool feeling."

"The final was amazing in terms of playing England at Lord's, and then for it to go as well as it did for us, it was just awesome. It was kind of a culmination of such an awesome tournament, and to cap it off the way we did was a bit of a dream."

"That's why we play. That's why I play. I absolutely love those moments where you get to stop. And we had 45 family, friends and partners in the rooms, and to be able to share those moments with them was incredibly special."

"My parents actually flew over literally just for the weekend to watch the final. So, getting to have all the family back in the changerooms, getting to sing the song and sitting on the Lord's balcony and looking out, getting that photo that everyone has seen. Yeah, it was just such a special, pinch-me moment."

"Very satisfying, epic feeling, and to do it at Lord's was a dream come true. It was almost like an out-of-body experience ... I watched so many famous people play there, to be the one on the field and lifting the trophy on the balcony was pretty cool."

"I think they're some of the fondest memories that you hold from a playing career, and just to stick around at the ground where you've just been successful.

"(Lord's) holds this amazing energy and atmosphere from the day, and to exist in that space for as long as you possibly can before we all go back to our lives ... it's a really nice thing to hold on to for as long as you can."

"Soph Molineux obviously got around the (celebrations) on the balcony, which was really cool. You'll look back on those photos and memories in how many years' time, and you'll be like, 'Wow, we did that'."

"Soph's antics on the balcony after the final were pretty amazing."

"That was 'Pez' actually. She mentioned it just a couple of weeks before then. She said, 'Oh, if it plays out this way, you're going to have to do it.' And I just sort of shrugged it off. And then it just happened. I don't know how. The digi crew and admin were all over it."

In a moment to seal the celebrations, the team all got tattoos together.

"I did, but it's covered up most of the time, so it's on my ankle. Yeah, it was quite ironic because obviously I rolled my ankle pretty good throughout that World Cup, so I just thought I'd get the tattoo right across that, just for memory's sake, because I don't have enough tattoos already."

"I did get a tattoo 'Dawg' on the side of my ankle.

I made Soph write down a whole heap of different ways that she would write 'Dawg', she did it in a lot of different fonts. And the girls, if they wanted one, they picked a font and stuck it wherever you wanted it."

"I think probably the distinct difference of this World Cup win was just the way that we played throughout the tournament. I don't think we had a speed hump."

"I've probably never been in a World Cup (where we) had been that dominant. I've been in other World Cup wins, you have a little blip here and there, but to play the cricket that we did throughout the whole tournament, it was pretty cool."

"I think we went through a similar thing in 2017 and won three T20 World Cups in a row, and they were all different too. They obviously feel a little bit better when you've come off a couple of losses, and people are questioning the way you're going about it. So, they're all different, they're all amazing."