SHARJAH: In a video posted by Cricket Australia a few months ago where a few young fans got the chance to interact with the vice-captain Tahlia McGrath.
One of the young fans was wearing a t-shirt that said 'Caught Healy, Bowled Perry, Forever.'
"Oh, that's a nice one," McGrath complimented the young fan. "I got it for Christmas," the young fan replied, beaming ear to ear.
For Anthony, the mastermind behind these T-shirts and 'League Tees', a website that creates these t-shirts, this is something very close to his heart. "It's hugely humbling," he told this daily.
"If League Tees lets people be themselves and represent who they are, then that makes me very happy. I try and make as many suggestions as I can, but because the whole art department is basically just me it sometimes takes a while. It's a small pipeline," he added.
When asked about how it all started, Anthony has no elaborate answer. It is something he felt like doing and in true 'Aussie spirit' he just did it. "I just started doing it. Sorry, not to have a better answer," he says cheekily.
"I'd draw up designs and get them made by online print fulfilment companies. It wasn't much of a business because you're giving away your artwork to these platforms and volunteering to do all the sales and promotion for free. The margins are pretty measly. But it did give me a chance to test out ideas and start building a fan base. Over the years, it's just grown gradually to the point where I'm able to print everything myself and have full control over product quality. But there's still not much of a plan for it all. If I like it and think someone would like to wear it then I'll draw it," Anthony has kept it simple so far.
Anthony and League Tees' entry into women's sport came out of the off-the-field moment in the Australian Football League Women's League. "I think the first shirt was a picture of AFLW GWS Giants player Pepa Randall iconically eating a burrito during a post-match interview. It was a bit random, but part of the fun is being able to play off these mini moments and create something that makes them last. The Giants even bought a bunch of tees for their players and put out a video about it. That was a big moment for us."
When it came to women's cricket though, Anthony needed some outside push and it came from one of the fan pages of the Australian team named — Australia Women's Cricket With Very Little Context. "It was our 'Healy-Perry Forever' shirt. The story was that they asked us to make it," Anthony says.
"It was just something we discussed and thought it would be a good idea to approach him," Mrinal Asija, who is associated with the X (formerly Twitter) handle, told this daily.
"We saw many sports and teams were getting their tees and thought why not celebrate our team through it? He was very generous with designs and he made it happen. When I see fans wear those tees to matches I feel so proud that we could play a small role in getting it done. The best thing for me is that both Midge (Healy) and Pez (Perry) have seen it and they loved it. It is pretty special."
Last year, during the Women's Big Bash League match Grace Harris broke her bat while playing for Brisbane Heat. Harris, known for one-liners and clever commentary on her own batting, said "Stuff it, I will still hit it" just as she was facing the next ball before asking for the bat change.
She did hit the next ball for a six and it became iconic all over social media and of course, League Tees picked it. The Harris family loved it so much that they asked Anthony to ship a few T-shirts to Brisbane for the entire family. And Anthony obliged. In the next match, they all cheered for Harris with those T-shirts.
"The generosity of the Harris family was overwhelming. It felt great to see them on the broadcast and to be a small part of their big night out. It's crazy to have that connection. When you spend all day printing tees in a pokey spare bedroom it's amazing to think that anyone will take notice of what you do. And no one would know about us if it wasn't for our online fans - especially the amazing women's sports family. We can't thank them enough," he added.
There will be many more such 'Tees' available for fans in the future. Anthony and League Tees will make sure of that. For now, the fandom is growing with one t-shirt at a time.