Hobart Hurricanes captain Elyse Villani has renewed her call for a league-wide Pride round in the Big Bash, as her team gets ready for its annual Pride match on November 29.
For Villani, cricket has always been more than a sport, it has been a safe space while she was growing up and learning to accept herself. She wants today’s young people from the LGBTQIA+ community to feel the same sense of belonging.
“For me, I was so fortunate growing up that cricket was the first space that I felt like I could be myself, at my local cricket club in Melbourne, and to have people around me that I felt like I didn’t need to be anyone else, I could just be myself and I was really well supported,” she said in Hobart.
Villani believes strong representation matters, not just for queer youth, but for anyone looking for role models.
“Whether or not you’re an ally or whether or not you identify as part of the queer community, (role models) are just so important, because sport is often the last place that people of my community feel safe,” she said.
“That’s what I would love (the Hurricanes) to be for young boys and girls growing up and unsure where they fit in society, for them to see that they’ve got great allies and great people that also feel a part of this community is just so important.”
While the Hurricanes’ WBBL side will again host a Pride match, Cricket Tasmania hopes to introduce one for the men’s team by the 2026-27 season. But both Villani and Cricket Tasmania’s general manager of high performance, Salliann Beams, feel the movement needs to go beyond Hobart.
Beams said the organisation wants Pride efforts to be meaningful and long-term, “We want to make sure that we’re not just representative of what we do on the pitch, it’s what we do off the pitch.”
She added that the Hurricanes are deliberately taking a more active approach, “The education process for that has been crucial, and what we’ve talked about is not being passive in what we do – we want to take the lead, take responsibility, and the key thing for us is knowing that we want to be an ally, and what that means to represent that.”
Villani admitted she is disappointed that the WBBL still does not have a league-wide Pride round, especially when other major sports already do.
“I know myself and a lot of other players have been calling for (a Pride round) for a number of years,” she said.
“It’s been disappointing, to be completely honest with you, and I’m hoping that it’s something that changes really quickly … I think it’s well overdue, and there’s probably no excuse for it, to be completely honest.”
She believes Cricket Australia has the platform to lead change, “I’d love Cricket Australia to lead in this space … I don’t think we as a sport lead enough. We’ve got the platform, and I think at times we fall short on leading with this platform.”
The Hurricanes’ Pride match will once again feature rainbow caps, a rainbow-painted inner ring at Ninja Stadium, and a Pride-themed team bus. This season, they have also partnered with Pride in Sport to ensure there is genuine education and impact behind the celebration.
Australian Cricket, meanwhile, says it supports all efforts to make cricket inclusive. A CA spokesperson said, “Our Big Bash Clubs are brilliant at building community connection and social impact throughout the year and across the season via a range of individual and collective initiatives.”
“We unequivocally support the Hurricanes championing and celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community through its Pride Match on November 29 and will continue to support all Clubs in delivering impactful match-day experiences.”
For Villani, the message remains simple- cricket should feel safe and inclusive for everyone.
(Quotes sourced from cricket.com.au)
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