A Sex Scandal Rocks Women's Cricket as an Aussie Star is Accused of Cheating on Her Wife With a Teammate

Athletes have been taking advantage of the fact they're objects of sexual desire ever since there have been athletes. Gladiators had the ancient Roman equivalent of groupies. An old timey Yankees player used to tell the story of being a rookie assigned to room with Babe Ruth, then opening the hotel room door to find the Bambino flat on his back, a beer in one hand, a hot dog in the other, and a hooker riding him like a thoroughbred as he casually greeted him with, "Hiya, kid!" In the early '70s, Yankee teammates Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich swapped wives, families and dogs, which they termed "swapping lives." Then there was Wade Boggs' sidepiece Margo Adams, who turned their affair into a spread in Penthouse, where she spilled all the tea on the Red Sox "Delta Force" rampaging their way through every city in the American League in search of road beef. There is nothing new under the sun. 

But an entirely different dynamic presents itself when the person you're having casual sex with is a teammate. If the Babe was rolling on the hotel floor with Urban Shocker in 1927, that would've been ... well, a shocker. If Boggs was boning let's say, Rich Gedman, it would've affected the team in much more profound ways than just some anonymous Baseball Annie who had no busy being naked in a magazine. 

At least that's my theory, based on a lifetime spent observing human behavior and group dynamics. The good news is we're going to get a real world test of my hypothesis, courtesy of Australian Women's cricket. Where Asleigh Gardner, above, is married to non-cricketer Monica Wright:

Morgan Hancock. Getty Images.

Who accused her in an Instagram story of buttering her toast on the other side with teammate Georgia Voll:

Source -  The vice-captain of Australia's women's cricket team, Ashleigh Gardner, has split from her wife in what the Daily Mail understands is acrimonious circumstances.

The marriage breakdown is said to be the talk of the close-knit Southern Stars squad, many of whom are overseas after defeating England in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup final at Lord's on July 5.

Gardner, 29 … married her long-term girlfriend Monica Wright in April 2025.

However, just months later, things started to fall apart while the team was in India for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup.

A team source with knowledge of the situation says there was some awkwardness during that tour when Monica flew over to India to see her wife.

'It was a little bit weird,' the insider said.

'It was like something was a little bit off with Ash, but we thought it was because of the pressure of the World Cup.' …

'When they got home, [Gardner] goes, "Hey, look, can we talk?" and she sat her down,' the source claimed. 

Gardner allegedly disclosed to Wright why things had been 'off' during her visit to India, leaving Wright 'shattered' and 'distraught'.

The conversation effectively marked the end of the couple's marriage. …

The Daily Mail understands that Gardner's marriage breakdown sent shockwaves through the Southern Stars because Monica had been 'around the team for five years' and 'knew them all', according to the source.

'Some of them are really good mates, and Monica has a very good relationship with a lot of [players] still. A lot of them are quite upset,' added the insider. 

'She had messages from nearly all of the girls telling her how upset they were about it.'

The sport's governing body is apparently aware of the marriage breakdown.

There's more detail in there that I omitted, like Monica having an appointment to go to a fertility clinic to start a family and Ashleigh leaving her rings in the house as she moved out. Those are tales as old as time. 

Where this is going to a fascinating social experiment is how it affects the Southern Stars as they find out their vice captain has been doing the Beast With Two Backs with one of their own. Anyone who's worked in an office where co-workers had an affair can tell you what a game-changer that is. Especially when one of them is in a position of authority like a team captain. It immediately makes everyone involved start doing the math on whether or not Voll got favored treatment. Did she get to run fewer sprints than everyone else? Was she supported through slumps when someone else might've gotten benched? Did they have to get her the ball more than anyone else (I don't know cricket, so fill in your own sports reference)? 

And obviously this one only gets worse because Monica Wright isn't just some rookie's girlfriend nobody knows. She's been around the team for half a decade, forging relationships and being part of the fabric of the Stars. So it begs the question of whether Gardner can lead still lead the team. Even if she is an award-winning player. 

Graham Denholm. Getty Images.

If nothing else, this whole affair (no pun intended but it stays) puts Australian Women's cricket on the map in ways nothing happening on the field (pitch? Again, I don't know cricket) ever could. And while I'm not here to moralize, I am firmly on Team Monica in this. Here's hoping she rebounds, finds her Miss Right, and has that family she wanted. 

Somehow I don't think she'll have a problem finding her Princess Charming.