On July 26th, a controversy erupted on social media following an episode of cricket.com.au’s podcast, “Stories After Stumps,” which featured Nicole Bolton as a guest. During the podcast, Bolton revealed an unflattering comment made by Cathryn Fitzpatrick about India legend Mithali Raj.
The former Australian opener Nicole Bolton recalled an incident where Cathryn Fitzpatrick, then head coach of the Australian women’s team, questioned if Bolton wanted to be the Mithali Raj of the Australian team, criticizing Raj’s strike rate. Fitzpatrick was head coach from May 2012 to March 2015, overseeing three successful world championship campaigns.
Bolton, 35, played 55 international matches for Australia, accumulating 1,993 runs and claiming 2 wickets across three formats. She retired from all forms of cricket in November 2022.
Bolton recalled that Cathryn Fitzpatrick, then head coach of the Australian women’s team, called her into the office for a chat. Fitzpatrick questioned if Bolton wanted to be the Mithali Raj of the Australian team, striking at 50 even if she scored 100 runs but the team still lost. Bolton was taken aback by this perspective, realizing that her career might be short-lived if this was how Fitzpatrick viewed her.
Bolton recounted, “I just remember, she called me into her office to have a chat. And she was like, ‘Do you honestly want to be the Mithali Raj of the Australia Cricket Team?’ And I was like, ‘Mithali Raj?’ and she was like, ‘Yeah, do you honestly want to strike at 50? It’s okay if you get 100 but the team still loses and you get 100 off 150 balls?’ And I was, ‘Woah, shit! This is how Cathryn Fitzpatrick sees me. That’s not good at all. If this is how she sees me, my career is going to be pretty short-lived.”
This quote from Nicole Bolton was shared as a video snippet on cricket.com.au’s X account (@cricketcomau), sparking significant backlash on the platform. The post attracted numerous comments and reactions from X users, who expressed their opinions on the incident.
@Crictopher17, commented under the post – “Hate to say this, but if today more than 50 people even care about what you say or post, is because Mithali Raj played cricket. Have some respect.”
@yendhe_sakshi, quoted the post – “To bring out dressing room talks to demean a player like Mithali & the official account putting it out just to get engagements! There’s a reason you can win trophies & have those in cabinet but some players & the board will always remain classless and can never earn that respect”
@Estelle_Vasude1, quoted the post – “Maybe this story should have stayed in the dressing room. Tasteless.”
@vinayakkm, quoted the post – “Don’t have the mind space to articulate why this is so disappointing. So will just say… this is so disappointing..”
@RituD307, quoted the post – “I understand players’ dressing room can be rough about their opponents. Whatever theory they have about her, taking cheap shots against a player to establish your high standards, making content out of it, this is how you advocate for mental health, Ms. Bolton & Cricket Australia?”
@prajigharpure09, commented under the post – “Shame on you for trying to make this more clickabait by putting Mithali’s photos when her name is mentioned. This post is in such a poor taste, turning an interview into a headline that demeans a legend of the game. Spiteful”