The Ashes 2023: Meet the cricket WAGs of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Joe Root

It was all about the Manchester City WAGs and the likes of Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland last week when the team completed a historic treble by winning the Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League, but this time it is all about the cricket WAGs and more specifially the Ashes 2023.

Having grown up in a household obsessed with both football and cricket, historically the coined term WAGs was something normally associated with football  When it comes to the Ashes 2023, and tournaments in general, the cricket WAGs seem to be much more low key than their football counterparts. 

Ben Stokes is married to Clare Ratcliffe and the couple share two children, a son called Layton, and a daughter named Libby. Clare, who has worked as a primary school teacher, married Ben at St Mary’s Church in East Brent in 2017. Their wedding ceremony was attended by the likes of Joe Root, Alastair Cook and Jos Buttler and they had their reception at 16th century Rookery Manor in nearby Edingworth.

Ben and Clare’s daughter Libby is coeliac and must follow a strict gluten-free diet and Clare has documented this on her Instagram. In August 2021, she shared a post where she received a gluten free breakfast delivery for her daughter and said: “Our first @mannadew.london delivery! Libby has never really had a breakfast pastry before.”

Ben Stokes’s team mate Joe Root is married to Carrie. According to The Sun in 2022 “Carrie has opted to keep a lot of her personal information out of the limelight but she reportedly worked in The Arc- a bar in Headingley, Leeds. They married in 2018 and share two children together. 

Joe does post photographs of his wife and two children on Instagram, but mainly his social media is about his cricket!

Another cricketer who is also known for keeping his private life as ‘private’ as possible is Jonny Bairstow. He was linked to Poldark actress Eleanor Tomlinson after being photographed on a trip to Aintree in 2018. 

In June 2023, Jonny Bairstow took to his Instagram Stories and showed himself pushing a pram. In the caption he said: “Delighted to share with you that my girlfriend and I have welcomed Edward Bairstow into the world! What an amazing time ahead! They are both doing brilliantly.”

Jonny did not share any more information about the mother of his baby son Edward, other than referring to her as ‘my girlfriend.’