The Aussie women’s cricket team have blown off some steam and amazed locals in the Big Apple by playing a match in the street outside New York’s celebrity-owned Old Mates pub.
Owned by Aussie celebrities including Hollywood star Hugh Jackman, tennis legend Ash Barty and radio hosts Andy Lee and Hamish Blake, the bar has a rule that it has to shout free drinks if a famous face from Down Under rings its Bells Beach trophy.
The cricketers made good use of that when they rocked up recently, even getting behind the bar and pouring their own lager after giving the bell a good workout.
They were fresh from their 3-0 one-day international series sweep of the West Indies, which they capped off with a nine-wicket victory in the final match on April 3.
Old Mates said the team turned the bar into a ‘proper summer pub’ when they stopped by earlier this week.
‘Champions shouting the bar, beers flowing and the whole place feeling like a quintessential Aussie Sunday, right here in NYC,’ they posted on Instagram.
Cricket superstar Alana King is pictured handing out a beer at the Old Mates pub in New York City, which is owned by Aussie celebs including Hugh Jackman
King and her teammates headed outside for a game of street cricket, much to the amazement of Big Apple locals
Opener Phoebe Litchfield was front and centre for the game on John Street, which just needed a wheelie bin with a wicket painted on it to make it deadset Aussie
‘From John Street cricket to cold schooners inside, this one had everything.
‘Huge thanks to the girls for coming down and bringing the energy.’
The stars couldn’t contain their excitement as they played a match outside the bar, which is located on John Street in the financial district of Manhattan, just a short walk from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.
World-beating leg spinner Alana King was sending deliveries down and Phoebe Litchfield appeared to be organising the game.
The only thing that was missing was a wheelie bin with a wicket painted on it.
King snared 5-19 and opener Litchfield top-scored with 68 not out to headline the nine-wicket win over the Windies in St Kitts.
Sophie Molineux did not play in the last two games of the tour, her first as captain, because of an ongoing back injury.
She now has several weeks to recover ahead of Australia returning to camp in May, ahead of the T20 World Cup from June 12 in England and Wales.
The stars are pictured ringing the Bells Beach trophy bell inside the bar, which means free beers have to be shouted
Old Mates put up an Instagram post saying the cricketers had ‘the whole place feeling like a quintessential Aussie Sunday’
Molineux’s injury meant she only played as a batter in the three T20s and then the first one dayer, before being rested.
But it did not matter as Australia dominated the six-game series. King said their new skipper had still made a strong first impression in charge.
‘It’s just a great character who’s leading this incredible team,’ King said.
‘Disappointing, no doubt, for her that she had to sit on the sidelines for a couple of games.
‘But we’re doing everything we can and she’s doing everything she can to be ready to go when that World Cup comes around.’
King was player of the match for her outstanding 10 overs, the spinner’s second-best figures in an ODI.
‘We’re really pleased with how we finished the series. The T20s were quite commanding for us and we wanted to continue that momentum into the ODIs’ King said.
She added it was important to Australia that they not back off in the last game.
‘You can see sometimes in other teams, that the standards might drop. But that’s what we pride ourselves on, we want to be the best team in all facets of the game,’ she said.
‘We were just very clinical. We nailed our lengths and we owned that, then were able to bowl where we wanted to bowl.
‘To reap the rewards was great, but the whole bowling unit did a really incredible job.’
