Lisa Sthalekar on Being the Only Girl on the Boys' Cricket Team

Lisa Sthalekar is a former Australian cricket captain who sits very comfortably at the table of trailblazers.
Lisa was the first player in women’s history to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets and she’s been inducted into both the Australian and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Lisa is now a high-performance coach and an accomplished and much-loved cricket broadcaster - travelling the globe covering Indian Premier League, World T20, and the Tokyo Olympics.
In our chat, along with giving excellent tips on sports psychology and how to be a great sports broadcaster, Lisa talks about being adopted as a baby - she was originally named Laila and had been at an orphanage in Pune, India, for three weeks when her dad, mum and sister arrived… actually looking for a baby boy, but they fell instantly in love with the little baby girl before their eyes.
Lisa talks about returning to that orphanage during a trip to India in later year, and also about growing up in Sydney in the 80s and 90s, and for a very long time being the only girl on the boys’ cricket team - and not even knowing that there was such thing as a women’s comp.

SHOW NOTES

Lisa social media: Twitter: @sthalekar93 Instagram: @lsthalekar
Website: http://www.lisasthalekar.com

Need help with your next media appearance? Head to our website at stephaniehuntmedia.com or chat with us on Instagram at @stephaniehuntmedia or Facebook.

This podcast is brought to you by Charles Sturt University - where I studied Communications and I’m proud to be a member of their alumni.

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we have recorded this podcast, the Darug people. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Transcript

Stephanie Hunt  0:08  
Hello there. Welcome to Season Two of and we're rolling the show hosted by me Steph hunt, where we chat with the world's best female broadcasters, foreign correspondents, leaders and athletes about life, but mostly about what scares the hell out of them and how they find the grit to do it anyway.

Stephanie Hunt  0:40  
This week's guest is Lisa Sthalekar former Australian cricket captain who sits very comfortably at the table of trailblazers. She was the first player in women's history to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets. And she's been inducted into both the Australian and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Lisa is now a high performance coach and an accomplished and much loved cricket broadcaster, traveling the globe covering Indian Premier League World t 20. And the Tokyo Olympics in our chat, along with giving excellent tips on sports psychology and how to be a really good sports broadcaster. Lisa talks about being adopted as a baby. She was originally named Leila, and had been at an orphanage in Puna, India for three weeks when her now Dad, Mum and sister arrived, they were actually looking for a baby boy, but fell instantly in love with the little baby girl before their eyes. Lisa talks about returning to that orphanage during a trip to India in later years. And also about growing up in Sydney in the 80s and 90s. And for a very long time, being the only girl in the boys cricket team. And not even knowing that there was such thing as a women's camp. Welcome to the show. Lisa, thank you so much for your precious time.

Lisa Sthalekar  2:04  
That's okay, I've got plenty of time. I'm in Melbourne and I don't have too many friends.

LS 2:10  
I can hang out as long as you want. It's all right now my husband grew up in West pennant hills. And he's older brothers claim to fame is that he played in your cricket team, the West pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club. And for years my in laws have been going on and on about how proud of you they are they've followed all your achievements. I've heard endless stories about the fact that you were the best in the team better than all the boys not true.

LS 2:36  
They're there. They've been very sweet.

SH 2:41  
So my first question was, what was it like back in the 80s? And the 90s being being the only girl playing cricket?

LS  2:48  
Yeah, actually, I remember going to my father saying, Look, I want to play cricket on the weekend. And he said they're all boys. And I had actually hadn't even noticed I just saw kids. Like I hadn't deciphered the gender of the people that were out there playing cricket. And he said, I don't think girls play cricket. I don't think there's a girls team. I don't know of women's cricket at all. And this is where we go. We're going like 8086 87 Yeah, yeah. And so I was living on the Edward Bennett drive. Yes. A time. Yeah. So opposite the tennis center there. And there was a cricket nets out the front, I think then they might still be there. It's been a long time since I've gone to carry. I'll check it out. Yeah. And I remember dad kind of figured out that the local club for me was West pennant hills. Cherrybrook. So he actually rang them up. And it was actually Ross Anderson, who was the club Secretary, I think he's still involved at the senior level. And just said, Look, my daughter would like to play and they said, well, she'd be the only girl. Is she okay with that? Like, we're okay if she's okay. So I remember going to a school, West pennant hills, maybe primary school out the back there. And there was nuts. I remember sitting in the car, and I'm like, actually, Dad, I don't want to do this. Like, boys. This is like under 10. So I'm nine years of age, rocking up being the only girl. But yeah, you know, I look back on it. And it was really daunting at the start. But the guys were just amazing. And I had some amazing like an amazing coach and manager. Mr. twining, that's what I call him. So, he, his son, Todd twining was playing in the side and was captain. And then Chris Boyd. His father was the manager and actually passed Chris Boyd's father, probably maybe two months ago cuz I was staying at my father's place and he's like, ah, Lisa, and I'm like, Yes, Mr. Boyd how. And he's like, Oh, it's so good to see you been following you. Blah, blah, blah. So those His two gentlemen really allowed me to feel welcome and their sons as well. And I played Junior boys cricket for six years. And we won the first two years and we were actually elevated up an age group. So now for females, if they want to play boys, cricket, you can play two years under your age, because obviously the power and the skill, but I was actually playing a year above me as well. So when when as many games when we went up an age group, but I learned so many skills, and just probably just playing hard cricket, and being tested regularly. So I love their real experience of it.

SH  5:40  
And back then 80s and 90s, as we're saying, 1986 there's no, I guess, no big female cricket players up on billboards or on TV,

LS 5:51  
I didn't even know it existed. So I had no idea that there was an Australian women's team that there had been a domestic competition in the 1930s that women played the World Cup before the men two years earlier. But I had no idea if I had that it would have been a great answer to come back to all the boys and a lot of people are saying, Why are you playing cricket? And, and to be honest, and the great thing that I've noticed over the last 40 years, is that when I was growing up, I was one that wanted to be outdoors. I didn't want to play with Barbies. And you know, do all of that type of thing. I wanted to play sport and back then you will call the tomboy. Now. Can you imagine in school there is what's a Tomboy is a you're a great athlete. Exactly. You love sport. So I'm really glad that that has changed now and what is this country I think has probably led the way in how we've seen women's sport and given the opportunities and the fact that there are so many domestic women's competitions on free to air TV. Now young kids growing up realize cricket isn't just a boy sport. AFL isn't just a boy sport. Football isn't a boy sport. So you don't just have to do netball and hockey, which was kind of expected of females. 

SH 7:12  
I've read that it was your dad's love of the game that sort of got you in Is that Is that correct? Yeah, that's

LS 7:17  
That's right. Father being born and raised in India. And if you've ever been to India, or hung around any Indians, they just passionately love cricket is a religion. I haven't come across. I mean, the subcontinent in general, haven't come across another region that lives and breathes every moment, every ball every delivery every and they understand the game immensely. They're great pundants, which makes it hard when you go over there to work and they pick up every little mistake that you make. But you know, they certainly love the game. And my father obviously grew up going and watching cricket. And then obviously when he was older here in Australia, he took us to the SCG when I was a young girl, and I remember getting dressed up and we were able to you know, that's when we were allowed to bring flags and banners and you know, the hill was there and used to watch everyone getting kicked out which was a lot of fun as a young kid and joined in on the Mexican wave. So, you know, they were my first memories of cricket. And then I guess the other thing was, I was daddy's little girl really. So whatever my father did, I wanted to do so whether that be collecting stamps or model, train sets, and then cricket out in the backyard.

SH 8:37  
So two questions. Were you teased at school from a young age? Were you trying to be a huge success?

LS  8:42  
Yes, I got teased tomboy. It's not a girl sport button when I realized women's cricket existed. So I'd already played I think two years of boys cricket. And then when I went to Gordon Women's Club, I was like, Ah, right. Okay, so there is like there's actually more of us out here playing Yeah. And I got to know of the New South Wales junior team and that there was an open side there was an Australian so all of a sudden I was like, okay, there is this big world potentially if I wanted to tackle that tennis was actually my first love. Having lived opposite the tennis court at Edward Bennett drives I used to jump over the little creek and used to hit for hours against the wall. So Wimbledon was the first title that I wanted to win, not a World Cup. That didn't come to fruition and I decided to put all my energy in cricket probably around the age of 15. And that was that was probably when I I sat down with my Father and went, Okay. I'm going to go all in with cricket. And it was lucky enough that my father was a counselor and a sports psychologist. So from a young age before sports psychology kind of came into the Australian sporting landscape. I got a chance to ride out my goals, what I needed to do the little stepping stones and as a teenager, firstly, listening to my father, that was a great feat in itself. But I realized he was, he was more intelligent in this area than I was. So I guess I should listen to him. But it gave me a great understanding of what I needed to do. And that, yes, I wanted to play for Australia, but I wasn't going to get there overnight. And it was actually a longer process. So I was able to kind of tick off all of those goals along the way. So probably around the age of 15 was when I really went, yep, I want to play for Australia. And I want to be the best player.

SH  10:37  
I had a question later on. In regards to sports psychology. I love sports psychology. How great to have your dad to help you out. Yeah. And any good tips or how are you preparing before for big matches?

LS 10:49  
Yeah, it's Yeah, I mean, each individual is different. That's one thing that I've learned over the time as a player, but also as a high performance coach as well. The distinct advantage that I had was growing up there were some times a certain bowler, that would get me out. So I would do a session with my father to ensure that I wasn't beaten before I even got on Park. So. So I understood that concept very early in my career, and was happy to am willing to do the training, which isn't measurable, which unlike the physical point of view, you're how far can you run? How fast can you run? Or cricket skills? Or How Hard Can you hit it? Or how many runs? Have you scored, how many wickets? The mental side of the game is something that you can't necessarily measure? But I understood the power of it from a young age. So So I had that experience when things or certain bowler was troubling me. The other times was when I was playing domestic cricket, we used to use a sports analysis program called sports code. And before a big match what I would do so the big matches back then were against Victoria. So I would go back over the years and find innings or something where I played really well. And I just watched that. So that's all I would fill my mind with is positive reinforcement. Hey, I've played these guys in our scored run. So why can't I do it tomorrow. And the other thing that my father taught me was visualization. Yeah. So before the before a big game or something like that, I would the night before, and my mind wanders to cricket a lot anyway. So it's not like I have to forcefully sit down and close my eyes and put the relaxing music on or anything like that. It was just, I can visualize playing at certain grounds, I know what it looks like, I know what it feels like out in the middle, I can see the bowler coming in. And I would play in innings or I would bolt to them. And I would set them up. So that's that's kind of the visualization was a real key for me. And it's something that I try to pass on when I'm working with other junior teams, or I'm working with the Gordon Women's Club as a mentor at the moment. So we've been doing a few courses on mental preparation. So they're the things that I focus, because that's what worked for me, like I said, it's not gonna work for everyone. And you have to kind of figure out and try everything. And then you'll find something that clicks for you.

SH 13:29  
And are you visualizing yourself making the perfect play the perfect catch that kind of thing?

LS  13:34  
Or yeah, so there are two ways and I explained this in the program that I run is, you can visualise yourself, like on TV. So you're watching yourself execute the skill. And the reasons why you tend to do that is you're picking up feedback on little technical changes that you might have brought in to the game. So you're seeing if everything looks perfect, because as fans of sport, we've watched a lot of things we've watched the expert, so we kind of get an idea of what it should look like. So you're trying to replicate that in your mind of you, fulfilling that skill. And the second way you can visualise is you're inside your body, and you're facing the delivery and you're playing the ball or or you're bowling the ball. So what you're trying to do, and this is my understanding of it is that you're trying to get your body, your mind, your muscles free and the synapses all firing correctly. So that when you are in that same situation, you know, I've been here before, I just need to execute my skill. So yeah, so there are two ways that you can do visualisation.

SH  14:42  
Because brilliant and how great to have your dad bear hoping as long as you do the work. Obviously

LS 14:46  
You have to do the work, unfortunately, can't just listen.

SH 14:49  
No, we're gotta do it. Just changing gears slightly. So you emigrated to Australia from India when you were four.

LS 14:57  
Well, I was I was actually adopted at three weeks. of age, we Luke moved to America for 18 months moved to Kenya for 18 months. We're actually on our way to Jamaica, West Indies because my father was going to do a medical degree there. They were already Australian citizens. My sister, my mom, my father, I was still on an Indian passport. So we're coming via Australia so I could get the Australian passport. And the story goes that we literally landed and we were just like, how about we just stay here? This is pretty cool. This is a cool country. So yeah. And

SH  15:29  
As a as a young kid, what was it like when you told your friends that you were adopted? I've read I think I heard in interviews and podcasts that you thought it was pretty cool.

LS  15:37  
Yeah, it's different, isn't it compared to everyone else's? Adoption is a funny thing, because each individual has their own story or how they feel about it. Now my sister is adopted, and I'm adopted, how I feel about it is polar opposite to my sister. I thought it was great. I thought it was so cool, is really different. No one else had the story. I can guarantee you no one else had that story in the school at all. So I kind of sang it from the hilltops. Whereas my sister was probably a little bit more embarrassed, felt like she was abandoned as a child. And she was adopted at three days old. So it wasn't like we were old. And we had memories of being in India, with our family, or whatever it was. But yeah, that was that was my take on it all. As long as I can remember, we were told we were adopted. So there was no, you know, unveiling at the 21 years of age and finding the secret documents. Oh, I don't fit in really? You know, it was always quite celebrated. And it was just normal. It was my life. There is no anything else. Really. Do

SH 16:47  
Did you ever want to go to India and find your biological parents?

LS  16:51  
No. But I did go to the orphanage where I was adopted. And they asked me actually, would you like to find your biological parents? And I said, No, I said, I've got two wonderful parents I don't need so there was not there was there's been no desire to find out if I look like anyone or or even from a medical point of view. I understand genetically, it'd be good to find out if there's, you know, heart issues, cancer or whatever it may be. But I think it's also a great lucky door prize. So I don't know what's coming. So it's great. I just live life to its fullest. And you

SH 17:26  
You've made that transition for being an incredible player and now a commentator so you are going back to India quite a lot. How does it feel when you go

LS 17:36  
Yeah. We used to go back to India every couple of years when my grandmother was still alive back to Mumbai. So I have very happy memories of going there as a kid and you know, eating and flying kites and all sorts of things playing an Indian game called carom you know, Slyke pool, but you use your fingers and you've got pockets for pockets. And so no stick. You've just got a striker they call it anyway, look it up. Sounds good. And so yeah, so I have happy memories. And after she passed away in 95. I didn't go back to India until 2004, which was the first time I toured there with the Australian team. So I'd only been in the team for about three years. But like going back to India was a very what's the word it? It was just homely? Like I felt very comfortable. And one thing like growing up, I never felt that I was different to anyone else. I never thought I looked different. I just said I tend really well. Like all of you guys want my tan basically. Especially in lockdown. So, you know, I never thought I was different. But one thing I noticed when I was in India, and I was traveling with obviously the team and we were in the markets, I'd go up front, and no one would hound me but they'd handle all the Westerners. And I was like, Oh yeah, I fit into this group here. No one knows. I don't think I'm Australian. As long as I keep my mouth shut and sorted. They're not going to ask me for a ridiculous price. But I think over the years especially because since 2015, I've been commentating on the IPL every year. I am more Indian now than I ever was like I have connected more so to that culture. And it's something that I want to do more of and people say would you live in India? I go Yeah, within a heartbeat. I could easily live in India. Obviously I want to come back to Australia and enjoy you know the lifestyle that we have here but it is certainly a place that brings me great joy.

SH 19:44  
You're a big deal over there.

LS 19:47  
One thing that they do well is because they cricket as a religion. They know all of the players they know all the history and they reveal their past players you know, from a work point of view, you know, I've always been treated really nicely. You know, it's been the first time when I was younger that people actually recognize me this which kind of spun me out. But yeah, they they they treat you in such a hospitable way

SH  20:22  
Have you had experiences of being mobbed or masses of selfies?

LS 20:27  
Selfies. Yeah, yeah, it's a photo, photo like one photo please you know. So yeah, I have gotten that not as much and that's fine. It's funny when you go when IPL back in the day when there was crowds and we were actually able to travel around all the states you know, you know literally traveled with like Brett Lee or Matthew Hayden. All of these big names so all of them flocked to them. So I just slide on by and every now and again a few people go hang on hang on. Hang on. Lisa. Lisa memory. So can I can I get a photo on the slide? Oh, okay. Right. Okay. Sure. 

SH 21:06  
Missing out!

LS  21:08  
I'm quite happy to fly under the radar. I mean, it's it's an it's a nice thing to be recognized. But I do feel sorry for some of the male cricketers past and present that get hounded and you think of some of the Indian male players and they just literally can't go out and walk on the streets or have a dinner or go to a movie like it's just, it's a shame because they miss out on living in their country properly. But yeah, but then they earn a lot of money. So the pros and cons.

SH 21:43  
What was it like making that shift into the world of broadcast and when you made that shift? Had you done any broadcasting before

LS  21:51  
the back end of my career, we started to to get miked up Channel Nine started to cover and I had experienced in 2010, whilst I was still playing Elise Perry and myself, were flown up to Brisbane, it was the ACA, all stars taking on Australia. And that's the game where Tim Payne actually broke his finger. And they gave me five overs. And I sat between Matt Nicklaus and Tony, Greg, and I sat down and I was like, firstly, this is a pretty cool seat, like I'm literally behind the bowl as well. I've got all of the monitors in front of me, this is like cricket heaven. And then the five overs went like that. And I was like, this is really cool. How does one get a job like this? So from 2010, I kind of felt I wanted to do that. Yeah, there were no females at all. In the broadcast world, I hadn't seen any females being commentators. So I was like, maybe there is a niche? I don't I don't know, what would people like it? I have an opinion. And I've played and I'm a female, and I watch it, why can't I have a female voice telling me what they see? I don't see the issue there. So I started hanging out with Channel Nine as a bad, you know, like a bad smell. Because I was working at cricket New South Wales. So anytime a match was at the SCG, I had a pass that could get me in any way. So yeah, just used to hang in the box. I used to just sit there and listen what they were doing and try and build that connection networking. I didn't know what that was called back then. But it was literally just spending time with people getting to understand the how it all works. And when I retired in 2013, I wanted to leave my job at cricket, New South Wales as well. But a few people said, well hang on. You've just retired and you want to turn completely away from from everything that you've only ever known as an adult. They said no, just just stay in for another year. And I did and and I was doing that full time job in nine months whilst I was playing. And then all of a sudden I had 12 months I was pretty bored. And it was the same old stuff as much as you want to try and reinvent the wheel. There's some things that work and you just keep doing it. So I needed a new challenge. So then I left cricket New South Wales in 2014. Didn't have a full time job. Did a bit of coaching mentoring some of the Australian players and because when you're free then all of a sudden people start going Hey, Lisa, I see you're free. Do you want to do this, this and this. So I first started with ABC grandstand on their big bash coverage. I started doing some live stream stuff. And then I did the next summer the Ozzie women's stuff with Channel Nine and did a bit of test match with ABC grandstand. And that's when I got a call from a manager who I had no idea Simon or Terry. He's an Australian guy that lives in England and he rang me up and he said, Oh, look, I hear IPL are looking for female commentators Do you want to? Would you like me to put your name forward and I'm like, that was my 10 year goal but sure, go for thinking Who is this guy? He's got no idea. I've never even heard of this name. Well, what's the harm? Off you go? He rings me up two weeks. Yep, you're in her. Sorry. So my first real commentary gig, proper broadcast, really apart from the three women's t 20. Games I think I did for Channel Nine was Eden gardens at you know, 70 odd 1000 on a world broadcast feed not knowing what the hell I was doing. So

SH 25:25  
What was that like a sink or swim moment?

LS  25:30  
I didn't even know what to research like. I had I remember having all these notes on this little book that I had, but I had my head in there. And I wasn't even watching the game. I was trying to think, when do I bring this point up, you know. And then I was actually sitting next to Danny Morrison. So t 20. Voice, you know, the crazy New Zealander who lives on the Sunshine Coast and am Palmy in Banga who's a former Zimbabwean player that one of the very good, they're both very good broadcasters. I remember sitting in between them. And remember, because with Channel Nine, on channel nine, they put the director in my ear, but this time I had the director and it was the first game and he was so you hear what the director says all the time. And you hear a producer, then you hear your co commentators. And then you have to speak type thing. So there's a few voices plus your own little voices in your head as well are remember the director, Simon Wheeler, one of one of the greatest cricket directors, he he actually said, Stop talking. So I just stopped talking. And my co commentators looked at me and they're like, and I'm like, he said, like night you that he's talking to the camera men? And I'm like, How do you know? So voices in my head? Yeah. So I mean, I learned so much that first year and it was quite good, because that year, we had four different crews on the IPL. So we traveled around with the same crew the whole time. So I got to spend a lot of time with Tommy and Danny and Simon Wheeler. And I just gave me a mountain of feedback. And the best way to sometimes learn is just listening back to you. Because yeah, I've watched enough cricket. Yeah. Oh, that sounds terrible. What am I doing? What am I saying? Or, you know, that laugh is terrible. Or I can't hear myself because the stadium noise is overshadowing me. So I'm on some lift. So all of these things was literally on the job, like, you know, our conversation can be pretty flat. But in broadcast, you've got to go up and down and get really excited emphasise words. And I didn't know that I was just talking like this some of the time. And so you learn pretty quickly

SH 27:45  
This podcast is all about helping. Mainly women have the confidence and the skills to either do a live TV cross or public speaking or a presenter at work or their best mates wedding. And it's very common, obviously, to get really nervous and shut down. What are your best tips for being a sports broadcaster?

LS  28:06  
Yeah, I think the main thing is, you don't want it to be too scripted, you don't want to be looking down and trying to read word for word. And maybe because of broadcast has changed slightly. And maybe with Channel Seven, it's okay to make mistakes. Like it's natural, it looks natural, it looks like you're in the moment. And so what I tend to do is I'll have a little piece of paper or something. And I'll literally have a couple of points of what I add the key points that I want to touch on. So that means that I just look at it. And I've got a story or a, you know, a couple of paragraphs that I kind of want to say. And then you just let your natural conversation go. Because then what happens is, you look down quickly, but then you're engaging with people. And when you're looking people in the eye and presenting to them, they buy into what you're saying a lot more instead of you just constantly looking up and down. And I think the best way to get any kind of presentation, whether it be work, whether it be a wedding is storytelling, people connect to stories, you can still make a really good point about leadership or whatever it may be. But through a story that you've experienced, I find that's the easiest way and to be honest, because it's your life or your memories. You're going to remember it so you don't need to write things down.

SH  29:30  
They're really really good tips. Thank you.

Unknown Speaker  29:32  
That's just that's just what works for me.

SH 29:34  
Yeah, absolutely. It's been a very crazy to use you've you've been on the road. How many quarantines Have you every time

LS  29:41  
I've done three too hard week, quarantine so no fresh air and the last two times no direct sunlight into my room. My sleeping patterns are terrible. They're not the greatest it's it's quite inhumane. To lock someone up and not give them pressure or sunlight, but it is what it is. And that was the job. And that was, that's what I needed to do if, if I wanted to actually go out and work. One thing I realized in this two year period is, like, absolutely loved my job. Nothing beats being around the cricket set up, calling the game the friendships that I've made, because when I go overseas, it's normally the same cameraman, the director, the producer, co commentator, so it's a little family away from home, who are experiencing exactly the same thing as as what you are.