Haley Bracken dispels idyllic ideas about cricket WAGs, saying it’s a vipers’ nest

TO the blissfully unaware, the inner sanctum of our cricket WAGs is home to glamour, privilege, camaraderie and sisterhood. Haley Bracken, wife of former fast bowler, Nathan, happily dispels that view.

Contestant Hayley Bracken from Channel Seven (7) TV show 'Dancing With The Stars'.

FROM outside, the inner sanctum of cricket WAGs is one of glamour, privilege, camaraderie and sisterhood.

Haley Bracken is happy to dispel that notion.

The wife of retired fast bowler Nathan Bracken has likened the club of wives and girlfriends of Australia’s cricketers to a vipers’ nest, where bitchiness and bickering bubbles away under the semblance of togetherness.

The teacher, law student and hypnotherapist blamed the disunity on Cricket Australia — which this week settled a long legal dispute with her husband over a career-ending knee injury — claiming it purposefully pitted players against each other and that tension carried over to the WAGs box.

Hayley Bracken with Mel Gilchrist, Rianna Ponting and Anna Gillespie.

As the WAGs take some unlikely heat after Australia’s pitiful Ashes collapse, Ms Bracken lifted the lid on life in the WAGs secret society when her husband was on the team.

She said it was a world where women are told exactly how to dress and behave, where players’ animosities to each other play out through their partners, and where bitchiness can be more prevalent than in high school.

“It was the snide remarks, the little quips, just the whole feeling of the place, because everyone was competing against each other,” she said.

“Everyone has this misconception that the cricket team is so close and it is a brotherhood. Nothing could be further from the truth.’’

The current crop of WAGs on this year’s Ashes tour. Picture: Instagram

She decried the hierarchy that ruled the WAGs Club, led by the wives of older players who looked down their nose at the younger arrivals — but she also spoke warmly of those who made it more bearable, like Rianna Ponting.

“There is this constant feeling of ‘Well, this person is going to take your spot’. That pressure creates a rivalry (with the partners),” she said.

“Cricket Australia pitted these men against each other for their spots. And that ultimately filtered down to the partners.”

“There is this expectation you will do this, you will do that, you will dress a certain way. I refused to be put in a box.”

Originally published as Haley Bracken dispels idyllic ideas about cricket WAGs, saying it’s a vipers’ nest