Women’s cricket World Cup 2022: The rise of Australian all-rounder Annabel Sutherland

With an Ashes-defining Test match on the line, Meg Lanning turned to Annabel Sutherland — and it came as no surprise to those who know Australia’s new problem-solver best.

There’s something about science that Annabel Sutherland loves.

She finds it difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is she loves about the discipline, but it’s likely the emerging Australian all-rounder is drawn to its process.

“I really enjoyed science at school,” she says.

“I did chemistry, biology and they were probably my two favourite school subjects, if I don’t count PE which was miles ahead of everything else.

“But I love science … I don’t know what it is about it, but certainly you can relate to real life pretty quickly with (chemistry and biology).

Watch every match of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup LIVE & FREE on Kayo Freebies. Join free now and start streaming instantly.

“And I think I enjoy that there’s a definitive, right answer to it, versus a subject like English where you have to create your own answer.”

This makes for an interesting response, because those who know her best would say she approaches her sport in exactly the same way.

Annabel Sutherland has emerged as one of Australian cricket’s rising stars.

Sutherland’s father, James – former Cricket Australia boss – describes his middle child as process-driven, which not only explains her love of science, but of elite sport.

“She’s a real problem-solver,” he muses.

“She believes there’s an answer in there and she wants to get to the bottom of it (in sport) she does think a lot about how she can get better and what she needs to do, whether it’s technically or physically or mentally … she uses that to her advantage.”

Sutherland – who has played 15 matches for Australia across all three formats since debuting in January 2020, taking 18 international wickets with her medium pace – is currently studying a Bachelor of Science part-time through Melbourne University.

Of course, she’s also juggling the demands of a professional cricket career that has taken her to New Zealand as part of the one-day Australian squad that will compete in the ICC’s Women’s World Cup from March 5.

Sutherland charges in during the Ashes.

James Sutherland appeals for a wicket during his Sheffield Shield career.

She’s not here by accident.

Her rise into the world’s most dominant cricket team is off the back of equal amounts of hard work, a competitive spirit born in backyard cricket against older brother Will (who now plays for Victoria and the Melbourne Renegades) and younger brother Tom.

And it’s taken a whole load of talent.

Sutherland was born in Melbourne in 2001, the same year her father, James, took on the role of Cricket Australia’s chief executive. His daughter turned 18 the year he stepped down from the high-profile role, but Sutherland says it wasn’t her dad’s day job that got her into cricket.

Rather it was his infectious love of the game.

“When we were growing up, dad coached Will in junior cricket and I absolutely loved that because it meant that I could go down and be around dad and listen to him talk about cricket.

“Will took a liking to cricket very early, and I was pretty happy to do whatever Will was doing, and if that meant spending a lot of time in the backyard trying to work out how to bowl the ball down the other end so that Will could bat, I was happy to do so.”

Annabel and Will Sutherland as juniors.

Sutherland became Cricket Australia boss.

The thing was, these backyard contests soon became serious, especially when younger brother Tom could join in.

“We were all pretty competitive in our own unique way and that transferred into the backyard,” she says.

“We played a lot of backyard cricket, but we also played footy, basketball, soccer, tennis, whatever it was, it was pretty fiery and competitive and we all absolutely loved that time growing up.”

By the age of nine, Sutherland was recognisably talented.

James recalls a trip to the local nets one evening only to bump into Gary Hughes (brother of Aussie’s legendary fast bowler Merv), who was then the coach of the Victorian under-13 girls team.

“Gary saw her in the nets and said: ‘Wow, that girl’s trying out next year’,” James recalls.

“Sure enough she tried out and the next year she was in the under-13 team.”

Sutherland bowls as a junior.

A young Annabel Sutherland with Meg Lanning.

Less than a decade later and in 2020 Sutherland made her debut for Australia playing against England in a tri-nations series.

But her path into elite cricket wasn’t really as simple as that. As James explains, her staying-power in the sport required a decent dose of bravery.

“A lot’s changed in girls’ and women’s sport, but there was a period still for her during her primary school years where the only way she could play was to play with boys,” he says.

“One of the things I reflect on, is that she was brave to play in that environment and that she must have really loved her sport, whether it was cricket or footy, because she was the one girl in a boys team.

“Sometimes there were two girls, but mostly it was all boys. And that can be quite intimidating … I always felt that’s brave, or that she just really loved the sport, to want to do it week-in, week-out, year after year.”

Annabel Sutherland was destined to wear the baggy green.

With James once heavily involved in cricket administration, he’s now heading up Golf Australia, and is slowly bringing his daughter around to the game and she’s managed to get herself a handicap that hovers around 30.

“I think she’s taken the: ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’ philosophy,” James says.

“She’s got a lot of potential if she wants to try a little bit harder at it at some stage.

“When she hits a good ball, she out-drives me.”