In the late 1980s, a young woman from Dublin packed her bags for a trip that felt larger than life. Cricket in Ireland was barely noticed, but for Anne-Marie Garth and her teammates, flying to Australia for the 1988 Women’s World Cup was something extraordinary. Nearly four decades later, her daughter Kim will take the field in the same tournament — but in Australia’s green and gold, not in Irish colors. Together, they will become the first mother and daughter to have played in Women’s ODI World Cups.
For Anne-Marie, cricket was never about fame or crowds. She laughs when people confuse her career even now, “Cricket is a tiny sport in Ireland. It’s a growing sport, but … people still say to me, ‘Oh, you played hockey for Ireland, didn’t you?’ So way back then, it didn’t seem like much of an achievement.”
Her Ireland team lost heavily to the big sides — Australia, New Zealand, and England — but managed two wins over the Netherlands. The results, however, were hardly the point, “No, it wasn’t widely broadcast or anything like that,” she recalls. “But the fact it was in Australia made it extra special for us. Flying to Australia – for a month, you know – that was the gravity of it. It was a World Cup, and World Cups are amazing.”
The adventure mattered more than the scorecards. For Anne-Marie, it was friendships, the sense of being part of something new, and the thrill of the unknown.
Anne-Marie and Johnny Garth met through cricket. Both wore Ireland colours, and their shared passion for the sport became the foundation of their family. They married in 1990. Rob came along in 1991, Kim in 1996 — the day before Anne-Marie’s 33rd birthday — and JJ in 2000. All three children would eventually play cricket.
The game had quietly settled into their lives like a permanent member of the household. For Kim, it became something more than just a family pastime.
By 2009, Kim’s promise was obvious. Just 13, she was selected for Ireland’s U17 Women and U13 Boys squads in the same year. One year later, she was playing international cricket. Looking back, she sees how unfinished she was as a player, “I was a bits-and-pieces cricketer for a long time. Batted seven, didn’t really bowl.”
But talent and work ethic carried her forward. By the time she left for Australia, she had already played 34 ODIs for Ireland, scoring 448 runs with a best of 72*, and taking 23 wickets with best figures of 4/11.
Moving to Australia changed everything. The professional structures, the WBBL, and the domestic competitions gave Kim the stage she had never had in Ireland. Slowly, she earned her way into the most dominant team in world cricket.
Her ODI debut for Australia came in 2023. Since then, she has played 22 matches, taking 32 wickets — her best 3/8 — and adding handy lower-order runs, including a top score of 42*. In 2024 alone, she collected 16 wickets in 11 games, her best 3/11.
Her captain, Alyssa Healy, has noticed her growth, “I think she’s getting even better. She’s worked on some stuff to make it more challenging (to face her), which, from personal experience, it’s hard enough as it is. So, to challenge both sides of the bat, it’s going to be a really exciting thing to see from her.”
For Kim, there have been moments of disbelief, moments she can’t quite believe are hers. One of them came when she was first told she had been selected in an Australian squad. She couldn’t wait until morning to tell her parents.
Johnny remembers the call, “Naturally, as parents, you get that call (at that time) and you just hope nothing’s wrong. But she’s crying down the other end, and I thought, ‘Oh God’ … but it was tears of joy. Then Anne-Marie and I just got up and had a cup of tea – we weren’t going to get back to sleep after that.”
Now 29, Kim walks into the 2025 ODI World Cup as a seasoned Australian cricketer. She has already been part of a T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2023. For her, the World Cup is another step in a career built on reinvention, determination, and resilience.
For Anne-Marie, it is a reminder of that month in 1988, when she and her Irish teammates flew across the world with no fanfare but plenty of spirit.
Between them, mother and daughter carry stories of two different worlds: one of amateur beginnings, the other of professional excellence. And when Kim takes the field in Australia’s colours, they will stand together in history as the first mother-daughter pair to play in Women’s ODI World Cups.
(Quotes sourced from cricket.com.au)
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