The 2019 Ashes series is in full swing, and it’s already featured the glorious return of three disgraced ball tamperers and an impressive century by one of them, on day one of the tournament.
While sleep-deprived Aussie cricket fans are braving long nights in solidarity, there’s another team that deserves a check up — the Cricket WAGs.
The wives and girlfriends of the Australian cricket team are just as accomplished and attractive as their spouses, some even more so.
And many of them made the journey over to Edgbaston Cricket Ground, in Birmingham to support the team.
So news.com.au decided to do a roundup of the Aussie CWAGs, to find out who they are, and what they’re up to this Ashes season.
DANI WILLIS
While we’re on the topic of former cricket captain, Steve Smith, let’s check in on his wife, Dani Willis.
The couple met at a bar, during the first season of the Big Bash League in 2011, and were married in a secret ceremony in the Southern Highlands of NSW, in September last year — just over 12 months after Smith popped the question on bended knee.
In the last year, Dani, 28, has graduated from Sydney’s Macquarie University with a degree in commerce and law, and secured a role working at a Sydney firm.
In between depositions, Dani accompanies her husband around the world on tours, including this year’s Ashes campaign which marks Smith’s first major test since his 12-month ban over the ball tampering scandal.
CANDICE WARNER
As the wife of opening batsman David Warner since 2015, Candice Warner has spent years in the public spotlight, both as a CWAG and in her own right as a professional athlete.
The 34-year-old is a former professional ironwoman, surf life saver and model and is the most well-known wife of the Australian cricket team, boasting 206K Instagram followers.
But despite her glamorous life, things have been a bit tumultuous for ‘Candy’ recently, after her husband found himself at the centre of the international ball tampering scandal, alongside Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft.
Warner faced a 12-month ban from playing, but Candice stood strong, returning arm in arm with her husband and their two daughters, Ivy Mae and Indi Rae, after they returned from the Cape Town test match.
But now, with her husband back on the team, life is looking up for Candy.
She just gave birth to the couple’s third daughter, Isla Rose, on June 31 in the pricey private hospital where Kate Middleton gave birth to her three children — the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in London.
The luxurious birthing suite allows women to select packages including high tea, post-delivery massages and champagne on arrival — the child’s arrival, that is.
But some rooms will set you back almost $11,000 per night.
ALYSSA HEALY
With more than 75.3K Instagram followers, Alyssa Healy takes second place as one of the most popular CWAG on social media in Australia right now.
Actually no, scrap that.
Alyssa may be married to fast bowler Mitchell Starc, but she is also a professional cricketer in her own right.
The 29-year-old is a wicket keeper and batter for the Australian national women’s cricket team and married Starc in April, 2016.
… So, perhaps that makes Starc the CWAG — or is this more of a Beyonce Jay-Z situation?
The couple met when they were nine-years-old, playing against each other in a junior cricket competition.
They went on to share the spotlight in the same team, and never stayed out of touch.
In an Instagram post from her wedding day, Alyssa encouraged people to: “Marry your best friend.”
In fact, the ‘Starcs’ are the third ever married couple to play Test cricket in the sports history.
Alyssa was awarded a national contract by Cricket Australia, in April this year, to play the 2019-2020 season.
She was also picked to tour to England with the national team to play in the Women’s Ashes.
So, what we’re trying to say is, this woman is a bloody boss.
When she’s not training with her team, Alyssa prefers to avoid social media, unless it’s to post photos of her two dogs, a few couple selfies, and important messages to her young, female fans.
“Winning games and trophies drive us to be better each and every day, but to see the impact we as women in all our different fields can have on these young ones should help drive us even further,” she wrote in April.
EMMA MCCARTHY
This is one of the newest additions to the CWAGs group, but Emma McCarthy seems to have finally been welcomed into the fold by the crew.
Emma is dating Australian spin bowler, Nathan Lyon, and travelled to Birmingham to watch him play in the test.
Peering intently from the grandstands, Emma soaked up the opening day’s action, among the smattering of other attending CWAGs.
But the Perth-based real estate agent wasn’t immediately accepted into the women’s inner sanctum, as her relationship with Lyon began under turbulent circumstances.
The pair began seeing each other about 12-months after Lyon, 31, split with his longtime partner and childhood sweetheart, Mel Waring.
News of the couple’s split broke when the Daily Mail published photos of Lyon and Emma kissing in a car, back in December last year.
These suspect photos cause shockwaves through the cricketing community as Lyon and his estranged wife have two daughters together.
Since that messiness, and the status of Lyon’s marriage uncertain, the new couple have charged ahead with their relationship regardless, with Lyon featured heavily in Emma’s carefully curated Instagram account.
With only about 6,000 followers, this CWAG is still up and coming in the world, but we give her top points for effort.
She’s posting photos in all the right places, with all the right people, in an array of fashionable outfits.
RACHEL KHAWAJA
One of the younger CWAGs in the tribe, Rachel Khawaja, 24, met Australian batsman Usman three years ago through mutual friends.
The Pakistani-born batsman proposed to his girlfriend in New York’s Central Park and the pair were married in April last year.
But before they tied the knot, Brisbane girl Rachel, who was raised a Catholic, told Who Magazine that she converted to Islam for Usman, who is devoutly Muslim.
“There was never any pressure to convert, although we talked about it fairly early on in our relationship,” Rachel told Who.
With almost 47K Instagram followers, Rachel posts regularly about fashion, travel and her new found faith.
It’s not known if she travelled to the UK to cheer on her husband from the sidelines.
BONNIE PAINE
Now this is a bona fide WAG, in the truest sense of the word — trim, toned, fashionable and packing an impressive Instagram to document her fabulous life.
The registered nurse married Australian test captain Tim Paine in 2016, and have two children together, Milla and Charlie.
They live in Tasmania, where Bonnie has reportedly remained with the kids, while her husband leads the Aussie cricket team through this year’s Ashes series.
But when she’s not changing nappies, Bonnie does pilates or goes out with friends for drinks, and you best believe there are going to be selfies.
Whether she’s posting a boomerang or a bikini snap, or pulling off a pilates pose or a red carpet look, it’s safe to safe this woman knows how to market herself.
BECKY BOSTON
The British interior stylist is the long-term partner of world-class Australian bowler Pat Cummins.
Born in Yorkshire in England, there is potential for this couple to clash over their allegiance to their respective flags, but Becky has gladly followed Cummins to the UK summer to support him during the Ashes.
In an Instagram story, posted to her 11.5K followers this week, Becky photographed her coffee and newspaper, on day one of the series, to cheer the team on.
“Come on boys!” she wrote.
Becky’s Instagram is filled with magazine-style travel shots, carefree beach snaps and lots of pics with her main squeeze, Cummins.
From the slopes of Switzerland or the French Riviera, to Ibiza or a poolside lounge in Dubai, Becky’s Insta grid is jam packed full of luxury escapes.
And more power to her for owning that wanderlust.
Continue the conversation @Rhi_lani or email rhian.deutrom@news.com.au
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