Born in Woodville, South Australia, Joanne Broadbent is a former Test and ODI allrounder who played during the 1990s. She boasts a Test average of 109.25 and is the second female cricketer to score a double century, and the first Australian to do so.
Born on November 29th 1965, in Woodville, South Australia, Joanne Broadbent made her First Class debut for South Australia against the ACT at the Australian Women’s Cricket Championships held in Perth in 1986/7. Broadbent was in a quality team that included former Test players Jill Kennare, Annette Fellows, Lyn Fullston, and future Test players Tunde Juhasz, Andrea McCauley, Lee-Anne Hunter – not an easy team to break into. The left arm medium pacer took 0-17 and scored 17 not out batting at number ten.
By season 1989/90 Joanne has moved up the order and on New Year’s Day 1990 scores a not out century against Queensland. Two days later she takes 5-42 against NSW, including wickets of run machines Belinda Haggett and Denise Annetts and then Australian captain Lyn Larsen. More wickets and runs during the states championships including 6-23 against Victoria and Joanne receives Test cap number 117 for Australia.
In her debut Test match against New Zealand at Cornwall Park in Auckland, Joanne scored 8 runs batting at eleven and took one wicket – the New Zealand number eleven, Julie Harris. Modest returns for the series, but following the Tests Joanne made her ODI debut and celebrated by dismissing Kiwi legend Debbie Hockley as her first ODI wicket.
A Test and ODI series against India in 1990/1 and then her first World Cup appearance, in England in 1993, but still primarily used as a bowler, batting in the lower middle order. Hard to get a hit when the Australian Test and ODI teams are heavy run scorers at the top of the order. This changes on the Test tour of England in 1996.
At the first Test at Guildford, Karen Smithies won the toss and elected to bat. On the back of a Jan Brittin century, England were all out for 414. Broadbent was promoted to number three and came in when Belinda Clark was dismissed for 11 and Australia were 1/28. She batted steadily with Lisa Keightley before she too was dismissed. Karen Rolton came and went for 4 runs. Melanie Jones joined Broadbent and the two of them went on a run scoring spree, sharing a 4th wicket partnership of 220 runs before Jones was out for 131. The sixth wicket to fall when the score was 480, Joanne Broadbent had scored 200. It was only the second double century in women’s Test cricket and the first by an Australian.
Broadbent played 10 Test matches for Australia, scoring 437 runs at the Wilsonesque average of 109.25. She took 13 wickets at 23.25. In 60 ODIs, 993 runs at 28.37 and took 38 wickets at 16.47 with a best of 5-10 against New Zealand in 1993. Awarded the OAM in 2018 for services to cricket, Joanne is presently coaching in New Zealand.
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