The Lyn Fullston lawns at the famous Adelaide Oval precinct are named in honour of an extraordinary all-found athlete.
Situated on part of the famous Adelaide Oval precinct, The Lyn Fullston Lawns were named after this country ‘kid’, to acknowledge the extraordinary sportswoman that she was.
Fullston was also inducted into the SA Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
Lyn Fullston was raised on a large farm in SA’s Murray Mallee, where she became accustomed to a certain physical toughness and endurance, a, and where she developed a physical power and hugely competitive drive.
That and her uncanny skills drove her outstanding successes.
An excellent all-rounder, Fullston averaged 31.67 runs at Test level. She was also the first player in Women’s Cricket World Cup history to take two five-wicket hauls.
Lyn Fullston also has the record for taking 23 wickets with her left-arm spin – the most wickets in a single Women’s Cricket World Cup competition.
It became clear that Fullston had the capacity to rise to meet the pressure of the big stage. In a hugely successful phase, Australia won the 1982 World Cup and Fullston, also known as ‘Lefty’ was awarded Player of the Series.
She appeared in 12 Test matches and 41 One Day Internationals for Australia for 16 years 1982-1988. It was a 123-match career at first-class level, claiming 73 one-day international and 41 Test wickets.
On graduating from Adelaide Teachers College, she taught secondary school PE, introducing young girls to the skills of cricket.
A once in a generation athlete – Fullston was also selected for SA in netball and soccer – and was chosen in the Australian netball team touring England in the 1970s.
Spectators were startled and intrigued to watch Fullston throw her body around on asphalt courts intercepting balls and often skinning her knees and legs in doing so.
No-one had ever seen someone play with such a self-sacrificing desire to win.
Fullston died on 1 June 2008 after a long illness. Her death was reported in the cricket world, but received little attention from the Australian mainstream media, prompting SA’s Jenny Williams to begin the South Australian Women’s Sport Network – a social media campaign to address the lack of media coverage and profile for South Australia’s sports women.
