Ash Gardner still in shock after $558,000 WPL contract

Australian all-rounder Ash Gardner was talking to her mum and brother when her life changed forever on Monday night.

Ash Gardner’s life-changing moment was shared with her mother and brother on Monday night because she couldn’t get a stream of the Women’s Premier League auction while at training in South Africa.

After returning to action at the T20 World Cup, having been sold for an “unprecedented” $558,000 in the inaugural auction, Gardner revealed the surreal moment and the aftermath with her teammates.

Gardner said there were a lot of emotions for those who were picked up, and some who weren’t, on a mammoth night for women’s cricket, with 14 Australians bought in the auction.

“I was on FaceTime with my mum at the time because I couldn’t get the stream anywhere and I was at training and my brother was there as well and he kept popping in with the phone with the conversion rate,” Gardner told Fox Sports after Australia’s win over Bangladesh.

“And it was actually just quite funny because I couldn’t hear what team I was going to, all I could hear was what the bids were getting to. It was crazy.

“To earn that kind of money as a female sportsperson is pretty unheard of, especially in the game of cricket. I’m just pumped to be involved.”

Ashleigh Gardner was back in action at the World Cup after the WPL auction. Picture: Marco Longari / AFP

The 25-year-old, who will have several Aussie teammates at the Gurjat Giants, including opener Beth Mooney, said the players were “on eggshells” during the auction but also able to enjoy each other’s success when picked up.

“We didn’t really want to speak about it before it kind of happened, and we wanted to keep our focus on the rest of the World Cup, so it was a little bit like walking around on eggshells,” Gardner said.

“And then once the auction was going off, we were all just kind of happy for each other, talking about who was getting sold and where they were going and things like that.

“We also got to keep in mind that not everyone was as happy as me and you have to be respectful and mindful of that, and something I tried to do wasn’t necessarily rubbing in anyone’s face because that’s really uncomfortable for me and be really happy but also be quote modest in the way it all kind of panned out.”

Gardner said the more than $10m shelled out on players form around the world was life-changing for plenty, including herself.

“It was something that I think all cricketers are striving for and I guess from a financial perspectives, yeah, it’s great news,” she said.

“It was quite a shock and still quite surreal to talk about and it’s a little bit awkward to be honest because obviously everyone knows what I’ve kind of been auctioned off for.

“We all spoke about that at the start that it could be life-changing, and you just have to look at some of the up-and-coming players that have earned quite a lot of money.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for everyone that gets to go over there.”

Originally published as Ash Gardner still in shock after $558,000 WPL contract