Cricket world in uproar over 'ridiculous' snub for Aussie women's team

Cricket fans and commentators are questioning what the Aussie women's side needs to do to get more international recognition after they were snubbed for a team of the year nomination at the Laureus World Sports Awards. The nominations for the prestigious awards were announced on Tuesday, with the Argentina men's football team, England women's football team, France men's rugby team, Golden State Warriors and Red Bull F1 team up for team of the year honours.

However many fans and commentators in Australia questioned why the Aussie women's cricket team weren't recognised given their incredible year. The Aussies won the ODI World Cup, Ashes and Commonwealth Games gold medal in a groundbreaking year that saw them win 12 matches out of 16 played. Out of the four matches they didn't win, three were 'no result' due to weather and the other was a tie.

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Sports reporter Lachlan McKirdy tweeted: "Reckon it's pretty ridiculous the Aussie women's cricket team wasn't nominated for team of the year." Others agreed, with one fan commenting: "Apparently the dominant Australian Women's Cricket team aren't even worthy of a nomination for the Laureus Sports Awards team of the year."

Others pointed out that cricket didn't feature in any of the nominations for the other categories either, with football, basketball, F1 and tennis featuring heavily. Kylian Mbappe (football), Lionel Messi (football), Max Verstappen (F1), Mondo Duplantis (athletics), Rafa Nadal (tennis) and Steph Curry (basketball) were nominated for male athlete of the year, while Alexia Putellas (football), Iga Swiatek (tennis), Katie Ledecky (swimming), Mikaela Shiffrin (alpine skiing), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (athletics) and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (athletics) got the nod in the female category.

Aussies into semi-finals of T20 World Cup

Meanwhile, the Aussie women's cricket team are chasing more glory at the T20 World Cup in South Africa having cruised into the semi-finals. The Aussies sealed their place in the semis with a six-wicket win over hosts South Africa, sparked by Tahlia McGrath's 33-ball 57 and Georgia Wareham's 2-18.

Ash Gardner, who took her 50th wicket in T20 internationals earlier in the night, helped the defending champions finish the group stage undefeated with an unbeaten knock of 28 off 29 balls. Her fourth-wicket stand of 81 runs with McGrath was the cornerstone of Australia's successful 125-run chase.

Grace Harris hit a match-sealing four-first ball as Australia overhauled the South Africans' target with 21 deliveries to spare. "It's a big relief. I haven't been batting overly well and was lacking some time in the middle, so I was a bit nervous to start off with," said Player of the Match McGrath.

"I seem to thrive in difficult situations and no good in the easier ones. I just love a challenge. I love the fight.

"I keep it pretty simple when it's a tense situation out there. It seems to be working for me at the moment. So, yeah, I'll just roll with it."

On Tuesday, England scored a record-breaking 114-run victory over Pakistan in their final group game, finishing top of Group B. The result means Australia will play India in Thursday's first semi-final.

with AAP

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