How an allegation of an affair between teammates rocked Australian cricket

July 15, 2026 — 3:55pm

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Ten days ago, the Australian women’s team paid public homage to Shane Warne.

Captain Sophie Molineux struck a couple of Lord’s balcony poses to celebrate their latest World Cup win, while evoking Warne’s ebullient Ashes celebrations a little less than 30 years ago.

Now, vice captain Ash Gardner finds herself mimicking Warne in another fashion, seeing her marriage break-up, and an alleged affair with teammate Georgia Voll, splashed all over the tabloids.

It was also an offshoot of Warne’s old Fleet Street nemeses, Daily Mail Australia, that first reported the allegation. Gardner’s ex-partner Monica Wright then posted the Mail story on social media, along with a picture of opening batter Voll, 22, and an allegation that the teammates had an affair.

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Those posts have resulted in the emergence of more claims in the Mail, noting that the alleged affair took place during last year’s ODI World Cup in India, where the Australian side was eliminated in the semi-finals for the second consecutive tournament.

Cricket Australia declined to comment. Gardner’s management and Voll’s management were both contacted for comment. Neither has confirmed the veracity of the allegations.

Former captain Alyssa Healy, currently in the UK to watch the British Open golf championship, retired after that World Cup, clearly frustrated at her inability to marshal the team to greater success.

Was the Gardner episode a factor in the team falling short? Gardner was Australia’s leading run-maker at the tournament and third-best overall, though her off-spin was not as effective as usual. Voll had a back-up role in the team, playing twice.

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Two Cricket Australia sources, speaking anonymously because of the personal nature of the allegation, told this masthead most within the cricket system have been well aware of the allegation over the past six to eight months, meaning it was common knowledge in and around the team in January, when the decision was made to hand the captaincy to Sophie Molineux.

While Gardner was also promoted to permanent vice captain, the choice of Molineux to succeed Healy was a surprise to some, given her spotty injury record.

The sources emphatically deny that Gardner’s relationship issues were a material factor in the choice of captain. Instead, it was pointed out that Molineux’s people skills were central to the decision.

In the presentations made to an interview panel, Molineux was best able to articulate how to take the team forward. In particular, her ability to read the team’s mood and ensure she would be the leader to lift it out of any senses of negativity or overthinking was identified as a key strength.

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Those people skills are even more critical to the successful running of a cricket team when it is acknowledged that personal relationships within that team are not just prurient details for tabloids, but a reality of the women’s game.

Look around the world and there are multiple instances of this, including England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt’s marriage to former seam bowler Katherine Brunt.

That’s merely the most high-profile example. New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite and Lea Tahuhu and South Africa’s Dane van Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp are others from recent years.

Gardner will, in time, need to speak publicly again, most likely while playing in the Hundred over the next month or so. Gardner is captain of the Trent Rockets based in Nottingham, while Voll will be playing for the Welsh Fire.

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CA and selectors will pick the team and its leaders ahead of Australia’s next assignment against Bangladesh at home in October.

But it stands to reason that Gardner will learn plenty from the episode – as did Nathan Lyon when his break-up, and a new relationship with his now wife, made public waves in 2017.

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Daniel Brettig is The Age's chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.

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