“I watched it a few times post-game, it was something special,” says Alana King on her Shane Warne-esque Ashes ball

It’s been a hard act for the spinners from Australia to make their name, but Alana King is one such name who is cementing her name at the highest level with the leg break bowler slowly becoming a key player in the Australian women’s team across all three formats.

In a recent interview with ESPN, King spoke about her gameplan and becoming Australia’s go-to spinner across formats. King most recently had a stellar Ashes campaign, helping Australia secure a 16-0 whitewash over England, finishing with 20 wickets across four matches and taking the Player of the Series honours.

King finished the ODI series with 11 wickets from 3 games, picking up a crucial 4/25 in the second ODI to help Australia defend a low total of 180 before signing off the ODI series with a 5/46 in the third and final ODI, to see Australia clean sweep the ODI series. Her five-wicket haul in the third ODI was also her first five-wicket haul in ODIs. King currently holds the record for the best career strike-rate in WODIs with an incredible strike rate of 25.2

And it’s not just the tail she stat-pads with, the third ODI saw her break a crucial 50 run partnership between Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones, sending both back to the pavilion in a short time. King also broke through with two massive wickets of Nat Sciver-Brunt and Wyatt-Hodge in the second ODI as well, when England were just looking to cruise home, building a partnership at 73/3.

King continued her stellar white-ball form over to the red ball game as well, picking up 9 wickets in the only Test. A four-wicket haul in the first innings to bundle England out for 170 before picking up her maiden five-wicket haul to help Australia pick up a massive innings and 122 runs win.

Like Warne, King also has a knack for producing some unplayable deliveries once in a while with King’s delivery to Sophia Dunkley being dubbed as ‘the ball of the Century’. King bowled an inch-perfect delivery for a leg break bowler, tossing it up to Dunkley, pulling Dunkley forward. Pitching just outside leg, Dunkley stepped forward to cover the line, but King produced enough turn to go past the lunging Dunkley to hit the outside of the off stump, a delivery Warne would be proud of.

Talking about the wicket itself, King spoke about watching it post the game and the game plan behind it.

“It’s hard not to [think about it], to be honest,” said King. “I was just happy that I got the wicket, but [then] I watched it a few times post-game, it was something special. Hopefully I can keep replicating that and bowl many more balls like that in my career.”

King this season, has played just one game in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 for the UP Warriorz, where the Warriorz went down to the Gujarat Giants with King going wicketless in an expensive spell (0/38 in her 3). King shared her thoughts about adapting from the longer formats to the shorter format and how important it is for her to keep up with the ‘pace of the game’.

“You’ve maybe got less time to think about your plans and to react in T20. In ODI cricket you’ve got a bit more time to get into a rhythm, into your groove, and in Test cricket, you’ve got even longer time,” says King.

T20I are a different ball game altogether with there being less time to settle in and the game being predominantly a batter’s game, King aims to keep it simple and be a bit more sharper with her plans.

“I don’t really change too much. I know that a good length is going to be a good length in any format. But I’ve just got to be a bit sharper with my mind and my plans.”

King should be key for the Australians, especially given that the ODI World Cup later this year will be held in India. Given the nature of the pitches in India and King gaining valuable experience from her time in the WPL, King aims to use the information and use it to her advantage.

“If there’s World Cup games here later on, if it’s in Gujarat or Bangalore or Lucknow, you take a little information and you keep it in your back pocket for when you’re going to be here and playing for your country. No doubt we’ve got a lot of Aussies [at the WPL], so there’ll be a lot of information collated collectively, which will be good. We’ll all put it to use when the time comes,” says King.

King herself has a special connection to India, with her parents hailing from Chennai with King stating how the South Indian city will always be special to her especially given that her father has a dream of watching her daughter play at the Chepauk.

“Chennai will always be a special part of me. Hopefully there’s a World Cup game later on at Chepauk Stadium. I think that will be one of dad’s dreams – to go watch a World Cup game [there] and hopefully I’m playing in that one,” signed off King.

(Quotes sourced from ESPN)

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