Why so serious ft. Grace Harris

On July 1, 2023, at Edgbaston, Grace Harris walked out to bat at the fall of Ash Gardner's wicket, singing Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer. Australia needed 24 runs off 19 balls to win the first T20I against England. Harris dragged her first ball, off Sarah Glenn, on to the stumps and was dismissed for a golden duck, giving England a sniff at victory.

"There are few days when I smile, I worry about the perception of it," says Harris, the perennially fun-loving Queenslander. "Now because I got out first ball, it was very much a criticism of how I walked out to bat even though I've walked out to bat in a state game singing and hit 100 runs in 80 balls. There's a perception that if it goes wrong, you don't take cricket seriously or you aren't competitive."

A laughing and chirping assassin with the bat, Harris is amongst the rarest kind in the competitive world of professional sports, where the display of aggression is appealing and expected. It might be a natural portrayal of herself, but a rare sight otherwise in cricket, or most sports.

"Some of my teammates say that 'there is a look in your eye that says...'. Well, I don't know how to replicate the look in my eyes, they are what they are," Harris rants in rather comical frustration of the perception built around her style of play.

"There is nobody who scores hundreds every day or every game they play. You compete with the energy levels you have on that day and in those conditions. Sometimes you could be on and flying, but you get an absolute peach of a ball first up and you're out for a duck. Golden!

"But if I walked out not singing, all serious and scored a duck, do they say 'you're not on', just because you looked serious? It's got to work both ways."

Being relaxed on the outside, joking around and chirping is what admittedly gets the best out of Harris. And not surprisingly, given the conventional understanding of how sports needs to be approached, it has been tough to find too many backers, especially on days when performances haven't been up to the mark.

"Sometimes it is challenging," she admits. "Sometimes you just want to conform to fit in. If you don't rock the boat, maybe you think your spot is safe. But sometimes you got to be able to sleep at night. I would rather know that I did it my way than conform to appease somebody else and walk around with a serious face just because they think that's how you are supposed to play sports or that's the only way they take it seriously."

"I've been involved in teams where I've been told I shouldn't have fun, cricket isn't fun, you're here to win. I've definitely been in teams where they've said you can only have fun off the field, you can joke around only off the field and you have to be serious on the field. As much as I try to suppress that part of myself when I'm involved in squad... If that's you jumping on board with the team - that you have to be serious - then I guess I have to be serious. If they accept me for the fact that I want to have fun and that they want to banter with me, and it helps them, then that's really good.

"But people are different, you can't please everyone. As I've matured, I've given up caring as much - not that I've really ever cared - but trying to control everyone's perception of me. You either like me or you don't. I respect the fact that you don't like me, but you have to allow me to be me, the same way I allow you to. If it works like that, we'll have mutual respect for each other."

For as much as global cricket is shifting, and the idea of 'enjoying the game' is reaching more acceptable terms, it's still a luxury that usually winning teams and high-performing individuals largely enjoy. Interestingly, what makes Harris a standout cricketer, apart from her multiple skills, is her hard-hitting ability. She may have batted in all positions - from an opener to a lower middle order bat, and bowled in different match situations, but it is her destructive finishing ability that makes her one of the best in the shortest format. The hit-or-miss demand of her batting, coupled with the 'not-so-serious' body language, can often prove counter-productive in such a scenario.

"As soon as I'm very serious or as soon as I'm in a very serious environment, I've never really performed well," she argues. "My personality might be that I'm a little more relaxed and as soon as I tense up, it really doesn't work for me.

"For me, if it's kind of laughing and having a good time, [then] I play the best that way... I'd have to shy away from who I am to be serious or tense with sports. Being kind and competitive, they are not mutually exclusive.

"It's not like being fun means you want to lose. I might not show disappointment or not show that I'm upset about something as openly or the same as everybody else, that doesn't mean that I'm not upset with how I've performed, that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed with how we played the game. I've tried to stay as true to myself as possible as I can in all different environments."

While a big aspect of her batting revolves around the ability to hit big sixes, what often goes less noticed is the ability to absorb pressure and be calculative. While Harris admits that she is slow to adapt to ad-hoc changes and prefers role clarity in preparation, her batting mantra is rather uncomplicated and highly-dependent on on-field conditions and match situations. What she does bring to a game though is the ability to turn games around. The 'intimidation factor', as they say in Australia.

"My personal character is that I don't want to be intimidating to the people off the field. I never want to be intimidating. So it's a battle [between] who I am as a human being to who I am as a player to win the game. But one thing probably has been difficult throughout my career is that whenever I walk out to bat, the expectation on me is to hit sixes or to be the really aggressive batter. If I've not been the aggressor that day, have I really failed or did I simply play cricket that day?

"Did I play the role that day that was required? Maybe it was someone else's turn at the other end. Or maybe it was just a really difficult wicket to go at a serious strike rate. And then I'm battling with the fact that if my role is to go after the bowlers, did I let my team down or did I not perform for the team?"

And then there are days when this jovial side of hers and the banter makes for not only great viewing but also some much-needed comic relief even for the opposition.

Dropped from the Australian side, Harris sent national selectors a stern reminder of her six-hitting abilities with a record-setting WBBL century in October - a blistering 136* studded with a record 11 sixes. Mic'd up, she knew her bat was about to give away and called for a new one in between a Piepa Cleary over. "What, you need it now?" shot back the Perth Scorchers pacer, returning to the top of her bowling mark.

"Nah, stuff it, I'll still hit it," Grace joked and, as if on cue, launched the very delivery for a 72-m hit over the long-on ropes. The bat duly shattered in two at the handle, leaving the bowler and the entire commentary panel in splits.

In the mad, mad world of ultra-competitive cricket, Harris tries to find her little space to spread some banter, and some laughter and joy. When you can be Grace Harris, why be so serious?