Portrait of Australian cricketer unveiled in Lord’s Long Room

A portrait of the former Australian captain was installed in the Long Room at Lord’s on Friday. The painting is the first of an Australian woman to be placed in the room, which previously featured only a handful of portraits of women. The portrait was hung near paintings of Sir Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar.

The artist said the work shows the subject in everyday clothing rather than cricket uniform.

Background on the Long Room Women were not admitted as members of Marylebone Cricket Club until after the 1998 series. The former captain played at Lord’s that year and scored 89 runs in one match. The Marylebone Cricket Club began commissioning portraits in 1880. A collections manager who began work in 2008 said the collection had been reviewed to include a wider range of subjects.

Career and later roles The former captain led Australia to two World Cup titles and set a women’s one-day international record of 229 not out. The score stood as the highest in the format for two decades. After retiring, the former captain served as chief executive of Women’s Cricket Australia and later held executive positions at Cricket Australia.

The former captain now works with young athletes on leadership programs. The former captain said the T20 World Cup final held at Lord’s last weekend showed the growth of the women’s game. The former captain also noted that investment in women’s sport has increased in several countries since Australia’s professional domestic league began.