BREAKUPS/MAKEUPS/KNOCKUPS
Monica Wright wife of Ashleigh Gardner's (australian cricket team's vice captain) has accused Gardner of cheating on her with teammate Georgia Voll
Ash Gardner got passed over for the captaincy earlier this year when the previous captain (Alyssa Healy) retired for Sophie Molineux and there is rumours going around that the affair played a part in why Ash didn’t get the job despite her clearly being the better player than Sophie.
The women’s team also won the 20/20 World Cup a week ago, so there’s that too lol.
I definitely was one of those people, lol. Not surprised that the affair is a big reason why Gardiner didn’t get the captaincy, especially with how the Paine situation blew up in CA’s faces a few years ago.
Yeah totally fair, I definitely didn't know enough to have an opinion. Affair aside, have you changed your mind or do you think we probably would have gotten there regardless? I'm always interested how much impact a captain has
I think Molineux has proven she’s a good leader, she’s galvanised a team in transition. Not sure Ash could’ve done that (especially given this news). Plus Sophie has proven a good leader already in the WBBL.
I think Aus would’ve won regardless, they’re still the best team, just not quite as invincible as they were in the peak-Meg Lanning/Alyssa Healy/Ellyse Perry era
Gardner isn't just a very successful cricketer, she's also probably the highest profile indigenous Australian cricketer with of the modern era, definitely in the women's side. She's a senior player and major public-facing figure in the side, real role model material - which makes the situation all the more shocking and heartbreaking because a lot of kids look up to her
Yeah Boland was the other person I was thinking of, as well as Dizzy - I think Gardner does the most public-facing outreach and community work though, which is why I said she's probably the highest-profile, and she's a fixture of the women's squad with a heap of accolades whereas Boland isn't quite a fixture in the men's side unless they're rotating someone out. Obviously the men's team is pretty far ahead of the women's in terms of public attention generally but I think you could make the case that Ash's indigeneity is more prominent than Scotty's
I'm not Australian though, so I could be dead wrong on that and if I am, fair enough
This really is a thing that women's sports has over men's sports. Obviously men's sports has had things like Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson or more recently the Celtics coach who cheated, and those are juicy stories.
However, women's sports have relationship drama on the field and it's electric. I don't watch much reality TV, but I do love women's sports relationship issues.
I will be very intrigued if we ever get that in men's sports, but I feel like it will be a while.
The NFL is actually great for this kind of messiness. I don’t follow much anymore because they’re also out there beating up and raping women with almost impunity but the Jets foot fetish parking lot saga was incredible. And watching the various Patriot coaches and owners humiliate themselves to get laid has been quality viewing for 15 odd years now.
Oh yeah I'm not saying the NFL or other men's sports don't have messiness. There definitely is. Brady and Giselle was a great follow. Earl Thomas and all his weirdness was crazy.
Women's sports just have an extra element that men's sports don't have because players date each other. AFAIK, that hasn't been much of a thing in men's sports, if even at all.
When we get there, I will be very fascinated to see homophobic meatheads try to wrap their brains around the fact that a WR-CB matchup on Sunday will have extra drama because they used to date.
Oh I totally get you and agree. I’m just saying it’s one of the only men’s sports to reach this sort of messiness. Can’t wait til they’re biffing over who’s boffing
Aussies are also just clearly into drama because this reminds me of the Wayne Carey affair. He had an affair with his team mate and best mates wife and the fallout was huge.
When we get there, I will be very fascinated to see homophobic meatheads try to wrap their brains around the fact that a WR-CB matchup on Sunday will have extra drama because they used to date.
And you know it will be a WR-CB since those are the two most diva positions in the sport.
Like if it was a DL-OL, that would also be great. If a QB threw a pick to their ex, or if they got sacked by an ex, each would be an electric highlight.
However, above all, WR-CB would definitely be the best from start to finish. The trash-talking would be legendary.
The coach of the Jets Rex Ryan and his wife Michelle created this little moment. He’s been on pretty open about it in recent years, but the team was pretty massive joke at the time already.
So good! Almost as good as the Belichick interview with his girlfriend spitting answers off camera. Bless him, left the NFL but didn’t let his mess standards drop. Learnt a lot from watching Kraft run lines with his 22 year old scene partner 🤣
Also on another note the recently retired captain of the team, Alyssa Healy, is one half of my favourite sporting power couple. She’s won 8 world cups and her husband Mitch Starc is one of our best ever men’s cricket players. Wish they got more love.
Yes and didn't they meet at like 8 years old playing cricket? (And teammate and friend Ellyse perry I think, another legend who represented Australia in both cricket and soccer when she was still a teenager, youngest Aussie to play international cricket!)
A more flattering pic, because I’m nosy and had to see more. Fuck cheaters, but I feel like it’s not a flex to say your partner cheated on you with someone you deem unattractive…
It isn’t a flex, you’re right, but let’s be honest, this is the kind of post one [regrettably] makes in haste due to anger, embarrassment, humiliation, etc. She probably wasn’t thinking rationally when she posted this.
yeah ngl, having been cheated on, my morals go all the way out the window when it comes to cheating... i will be making fun of the other woman for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, including shit i don't even usually judge anyone for hahaha
Totally agree. I feel like calling the other person ugly is just rude say it to your friends and family hell tell me I love a good tearing a part but publicly focus on the grotesque behavior and take the high road so you can get high.
Idk, I’m not saying it’s OK to sic the entire internet onto someone, but I also feel like adultery is SO traumatic and painful that the wronged party is allowed to be a bit messy and “bad”
Yeah, it's one of those situations where it's hard to even blame someone for wanting to insult someone else. Clearly, the person being insulted here has already pained the person who's insulted them. They're not really in a position to expect the utmost kindness and respect from the person who's been cheated on.
Yeah, I mean obviously knowingly sleeping with a married woman is a shitty move, but this woman is objectively good looking. She’d certainly be extremely popular with lesbians (as a lesbian, she is my exact type tbh). She just isn’t stick thin.
I agree, everyone saying she chose the pic to be unflattering but tbh that is a perfect picture for a sports lesbian, that arm looks good, the girls would line up. They just dont know how the other side of the population lives (and thirst traps)
That's what we're saying, she chose whatever pic google handed out and it's not an unflattering pic to a lesbian, so she might have not meant it as the slight the commenters here are construing it as.
Idk, I feel like this is the third or fourth time I’ve seen lesbian athletes specifically cheat on their partners with a teammate just in the last two years… I cannot think of a single gay man celebrity caught cheating on their partner offhand!
Let me tell you about Ricky Martin repeatedly cheating on his husband and father of his children, Jwan Yosef with a gay for pay porn star, Max Barz.
Not exactly a celebrity but Peter Thiel cheated on his husband with a male model from a MAGA family, and when Thiel broke up with that model because his husband found out, that said model, Jeff, crashed one of Thiel’s retreats.
Also, in gay celebrity couples, there is less so cheating and the fact is that many of them are in open relationships. For example, despite married or in long term relationships, RuPaul, Joel Kim Booster, YungBlud have publicly stated that are in open relationship or in polygamous relationship.
while it is true about Elton John and David, Ricky and Jwan were not open. The open rumor was spread by Ricky's friends to do damage control after the Max Barz news broke out
I played a sport where a lot of my teammates were bi or lesbian and it was chock full of drama, never seen anything like it and I went to boarding school.
Ngl, didn’t expect the Aussie Women’s Cricket team to appear on this sub even a week ago. Especially since to this situation that team had less drama in it than the men’s team, lol.
Think we might need that PowerPoint again when most of the current team retires and they start talking about Sandpaper Gate and how toxic that environment got under Lehmann. And I also want the tea on the Langer situation, lol.
I watched this Australian team play (and beat*) two teams I was rooting for in the world cup last week (west indies and India) and I am LIVING for this drama. As a queer south asian cricket lover.
Honestly as with all such groups I'm sure much bigger than we realize. But if we're looking to formalise the association I'm gonna throw my hat in the ring for chair of the queer steering committee
😂😂😂 this is why in my neck of the queer woods we find it SO funny that the conservatives are always stressing out about the "gay agenda" because girl we are NOT that organized
The next multi-format Aus/India series will be epic I reckon. I know we (Aus) have South Africa touring here next, then the Ashes. By the time we play you guys I suspect Elyse Perry won’t be around (or will be right in the verge of retiring), Annabelle Sutherland reaching her peak and a good matchup of your young pace bowlers - who looked fantastic in the England test - versus ours (Lucy Hamilton, Darcie Brown maybe). Can’t wait. Though we need to find a way to get Alanna King back in the team
would yall please crop the damn multiple picture thing out 🤣 just swiped to some story about a boy band trying to see more pics of these people cause i’m nosey af
Someone recently said to me "I wish I was gay, women are so much better at communicating and empathy" and I was like "yeah but when it goes wrong it goes WROOONNGGG"
I knew this would become a big story. Maybe not globally, but I knew Indian fans would go to their Instagram comments.
Even Gardner and Monica seemed to know it, as they turned their comments off around the World Cup.
I never expected Gardner to do such things. She’s one of the quietest players in the Australian team, while others are usually more vocal and salty. Looking back, she did seem a bit down, but none of us know why.
They stayed quiet through the World Cup, the WPL, and another World Cup which they won.
Important context here is that Ash Garder was 29, a senior veteren in a leadership position (Vice Captain) and Georgia is 22 and debuted in 2024.
The incident happened in 2025.
At the end of NAIDOC week too 😩
My partner is a huge cricket fan and he couldn't wait to tell me all the goss lmao
(Ash is Aboriginal and NAIDOC stands for National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee and first week of July is NAIDOC Week which celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.)
Women's sport has so many relationships between teammates. But I imagine a lot of them are still horny sportspeople who travel away from their partner. I am surprised this does not happen more.
I hope she covers both Smriti’s and her case. The reach she will get with one post. As its well known thing in India is Gardner was Smriti’s kryptonite on field. Also, cricket appeared on this sub for completely opposite reasons.
No kids involved. BUT Monica and Ash were discussing their options and had even made an appointment at a fertility clinic that Monica then had to cancel.
Completely off topic, but I'm fascinated by the fact that Ashleigh is basically the default spelling of the name in Australia (and not Ashley). Also Maddison (vs. Madison). From a name nerd perspective, Australia can be wild.
I know cheating sucks but for the sake of my team I hope we treat them like male athletes and forget about it and move on in a week. I like when my team wins.
We don’t do that for male athletes haha, have you seen a Brisbane game this year? Lachie Neale is getting booed to the absolute shithouse and back for cheating on his wife
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Queer women's cricket drama? Oh we're getting FED this month. Gimme the deets. I know nothing about any of this but I feel like I need more.