Sthalekar honoured for life

A career that includes 14 women’s national cricket league titles with the NSW Breakers, as well as two World Cups with Australia and two T20 world titles, Sthalekar is the 19th woman to be inducted since Cricket NSW first began in 2003.

Sthalekar also came out of retirement to play with the Sydney Sixers for the first two WBBL seasons, the final of which the side took out the title.

Since retiring, Sthalekar has forged a career in commentary, currently overseas working on the Caribbean Premier League and having worked in the WBBL, BBL and most recently Sky’s coverage of the women’s World Cup in the UK.

On top of all that, Sthalekar also dabbles in coaching, overseeing the program at Mosman Cricket Club.

Cricket NSW chief executive Andrew Jones said Sthalekar was a cross-generational star who made the leap from largely amateur women’s cricket to the new fully professional era and launched a career in the media at the same time.

“It is not just young players who are attracted to the excitement and glamour of the women’s Big Bash League. Lisa came out of retirement to play for the Sydney Sixers over the last two seasons, when she wasn’t commentating on the matches for the Ten Network,” Jones said.

“The Sixers of course claimed the WBBL|02 title last season.

“And just for good measure Lisa was a member of Gordon’s Premier Cricket team which won last season’s title.

“Lisa is a serial winner, and it is that winning attitude, along with outstanding all-round skills, that have made her one of the most influential players in the history of women’s cricket.

“Her high standards and will to win pervade our women’s programs to this day and have been a major reason for our success.”