Ashleigh Gardner's parents are Katherine Goodwin and Jim Gardner. Katherine grew up as an aboriginal woman of Muruwari heritage.

Her mother, Katherine, aka Kate, was born to a 27-year-old woman from the Indigenous camp among the Muruwari people.

Kate has five siblings; her two siblings died before her birth following her mother's death. Her father used to work at a station hand on a sheep station in Goodooga.

Kate is keenly aware of how lucky her children's upbringing was, and she has successfully conveyed that message to Aaron and Ashleigh.

Ash's father, Jim, saw her skill while she played with her brother and signed her up for Rivers by Workers Cricket Club, a small boys' club in New South Wales.

For thousands of years, Gardner had never been to Muruwari land, home of her mother's relatives. Last year, she went there with her mother and aunty Dorris.