Mary Waldron’s appearance in the field as wicketkeeper would draw anybody’s attention. Her unique style of wearing a baseball mask instead of the traditional helmet used by wicketkeepers is something which is not only unprecedented, but also a rare thing for a wicketkeeper.
However, this is not the only distinctive feature by which one can separate the 29-year-old Irish wicketkeeper-batsman. Waldron also has the experience of playing as a striker in Uefa women’s Champions League qualifiers for an Irish football club named Raheny United. In fact, she was the captain of the club when it won a national championship in 2013.
“As far as my contribution, I played up front, scored a couple of goals. But playing in a World Cup took over, so I’m here,” Waldron said to Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Waldron must have been happy to give away football for a while to take the opportunity to play World Twenty20 cricket in Bangladesh as she scored her highest individual score in T20Is when she scored 33 against South Africa yesterday. When asked what would be her choice if she ever has to pick one sport, Waldron went for cricket without a moment of hesitation and said, “Definitely cricket, no choice there. The opportunity to play in a World Cup is amazing. You never know what’s going to happen in cricket. You could be on top of your game and you get a first-ball duck which is why it’s such a good game.”
Waldron has been involved in football since 2001 and it has not been that long since she took another path of playing cricket over football. “I had a friend in college from South Africa and she loved cricket and that’s how I started playing," she said.
The love for cricket grew with the time after she started playing cricket for Pembroke 8 years ago and from there progressed onto the Irish women's cricket team and now she spends all the time in cricket.
When the talk was about his baseball mask, Waldron gave a smile and explained how she started wearing it, “The usual helmet is too heavy and I do a lot of diving. It just wasn’t very comfortable. So I just took a look on the internet. I’ve worn it for about 4/5 years and it’s comfortable.”
Playing as a striker in football and as a wicketkeeper in cricket don’t go in parallel but according to Waldron, it is about ‘fitness and agility’ that brought the two things together. Her attachment with sports is not limited to cricket and football only. She also played hockey before taking up cricket finally.
“I used to play hockey. Then over the years football took over and when I made it to Irish Women’s cricket team, cricket took over. It’s actually good for the hand-eye co-ordination,” said the multi-talented Irish who is also a quick leaner. It has just been weeks since she stepped into Bangladesh but while leaving the room after the press conference, the Irish talent smiled and said, “Dhonnobad.”