Sydney Sixers’ bowler Lauren Cheatle has overcome injury and skin cancer to play cricket

Debuting for Australia as a teenager. Dealing with relentless injuries. A shock skin cancer diagnosis.

Every single chapter has brought hurdles. Each season, a new setback she’s had to overcome. But rising above it all has been her prodigious talent.

Other players in her shoes may have given up years ago, thinking the life of a professional athlete wasn’t for them.

Yet for this 23-year-old, everything to this point has just been an opportunity to grow and display maturity beyond her years. There’s not a thing she would change.

“It’s definitely shaped who I am and how I play my cricket and deal with a lot of situations,” Cheatle tells CODE Sports.

“Of course, I would have loved to play more games – maybe a little bit less pain in between – but that just isn’t how it goes.

“I can’t complain about my journey. I’m stoked I’m 23 and hopefully have a lot of cricket in front of me.”

*****

Nothing was ever going to stop Cheatle from playing cricket.

As a kid, she was obsessed with the sport. Hailing from Bowral helped the cause, surrounded by tributes to the greatest to ever play the game – The Don.

Her parents were always accommodating of her dreams, no matter how far-fetched they seemed, an attitude she takes with her to this day. Yet she recalls as a junior the lack of exposure to women’s cricket in Australia, a stark reality that shows just how far things have come in the past 15 years.

“I was the only girl playing in a boy’s team then,” Cheatle says.

“I thought I was going to play men’s cricket and that was my goal because I didn’t see any women’s cricket, I didn’t see it on TV.

“I had a supportive family. I’m sure he didn’t mean it at the time but my dad was like, ‘Yeah, that’s achievable, keep going, that will be great!’.”

It wasn’t until the 2009 World Cup Cheatle’s perception began to change. That tournament saw games played at Bradman Oval in Bowral and finally the young bowler was exposed to elite women’s cricket.

All it took was that brief glimpse of the world’s best to know that was the career she wanted.

“I ended up doing the scoreboard for a game and that was the first time I saw women’s cricket played professionally,” Cheatle remembers. “And I thought, ‘This is so, so cool. There is women’s cricket and that’s what I’m going to play’.”

From that point, Cheatle’s rise couldn’t be stopped. She quickly progressed through the NSW pathways, captaining her state U15s side and being named in the Breakers’ squad at just 15.

She debuted in November 2015, aged 16. Three months later she played her first match for Australia – a T20 against India.

The world was seemingly at her feet. Then the setbacks began.

A debilitating case of glandular fever was followed by a shoulder injury that forced her out of the 2017 World Cup. On her NSW return, she suffered a stress fracture in her back and spent another half a year on the sidelines.

A self-confessed cricket nuffie, every moment on the sidelines was excruciating for Cheatle. Watching her mates take to the field, all she ever wanted was to be out there with them.

But like always, she found a way to see the bigger picture.

“I watch every single ball and I live through every moment, I reckon I’m more tired than some of the girls after a game,” Cheatle says.

“I could never not watch the Sixers or Breakers play if I’m on a break from injury. I’m a really, really bad watcher of cricket.

“I train and play with 16 of some of my best mates who are all incredible women with diverse backgrounds. We come together to play a sport we all love and I think that’s really cool and not many people can say that as well for a career path.

“When you have a platform that’s empowered to make a difference in society in the way that we shape women’s sport and how it’s viewed, it’s a really special thing to be a part of.”

*****

The perspective that Cheatle has stems largely from her work with What Ability.

For a professional athlete, four shoulder reconstructions and a skin cancer lump removed from their shin might be taken as a sign to look elsewhere. Cheatle continues to look beyond that.

The NDIS-supported program sees sports stars act as support workers for members of the community with a disability. It may be meeting up for coffee, going for walks, or in Cheatle’s case, running cricket workshops.

The service is designed to make the lives of those living with disabilities just that little bit more enjoyable. It’s done that, and more.

“I hadn’t had any experience in working with people with disabilities and it opened my eyes up to how challenging it can be for people in those families,” Cheatle says.

“I know the point is for us to give back to the participants but they have given so much to me from the perspective of my life and career.

“Our sole objective is to take these participants out for the day and enjoy seeing a smile on their face – whether it’s on a jet ski or Luna Park or at a beach – things that are so regular but can be so challenging for them.

“I‘m a person first there and that’s really important to me and my family growing up. Cricket is just an add-on or a passion, it can kind of be all-consuming sometimes.”

Cheatle wasn’t expecting her worldview to be altered so much by working with What Ability.

“I get to play a sport for my job, these people need three people to help them get in the car,” she says.

“Especially when I’ve had a couple of setbacks in the past, it really doesn’t matter. I’m doing this for the love of the sport and that’s what’s most important to me.”

Cheatle is determined to use her new-found awareness to help change misconceptions about disability.

She was the main attraction at an All-Abilities cricket day at Bankstown Oval earlier this year, and already has her sights set on how she can further the cause once her playing days are over.

“I want to keep moving and gaining momentum in the disability space,” Cheatle says.

“I can see the dynamic in society shifting and you see people with disability in other sports and I’d love to bring that into cricket at some stage. That’s important to me and something that I’ll keep pushing as well.”

*****

While Cheatle already has one eye on post-cricket life, she’s more determined than ever to leave her mark on the field.

The 2022-23 summer is all about playing regular cricket for Cheatle. Being fit for the start of a WBBL season is something that she hasn’t experienced for years.

She has bowled all four overs in each of the Sixers’ opening three games in their undefeated start to the season – taking three wickets. Her WNCL appearance against WA was her first in 18 months.

Naturally, returning to the Australian side is a clear goal, but for now it seems a long way down the path.

Working in her favour is her standing as a left-arm pace bowler. It’s the same raw talent that excited selectors when she was 15 that has her teammates enthusiastic now.

“We don’t have many of them in the country so I’m stoked that she’s on our team,” says Ellyse Perry.

“The thought of a fit Cheats, and fingers and toes crossed, that makes me just really smile.”

In the eight seasons since her debut, no left-arm pace bowler has had the impact Cheatle has in the women’s game. Her action is very similar to that of Mitchell Starc and she is likewise able to swing the ball both ways.

There is a plethora of right-arm fast bowlers in Australia’s ranks right now: Darcie Brown, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck, Stella Campbell, the list goes on.

Cheatle still leads the left-arm brigade.

“I think mums and dads need to start putting balls in girls’ left hands rather than right hands,” Perry jokes.

It’s a point Cheatle has never really considered. But she concedes she does have a natural advantage just because she holds the ball in her other hand.

“We see a lot of left-handed batters coming through now, but I don’t have an answer for left-arm quicks,” she says.

“I encourage it, I’d love to see more. We hear that it brings a point of difference and it helps shape bowling attacks. That’s why I’m really lucky to fit into the Sixers’ squad.”

While the thought of Cheatle adding to her 11 international appearances with a swinging Kookaburra ball in her hand is enough to get any cricket fan excited, she thinks of that kid growing up in Bowral who didn’t know what was in store for her.

She played the sport because she loved it – and it’s that love she wants to find as motivation again.

“For me in the next couple of years, I just want to play cricket. To play as many games as possible and enjoy the time on the park.”