She's Australia's - and England's - latest cricketing celebrity, but 22-year-old American Ashley Kerekes has never lifted a cricket bat. And now she's in line for a free trip to Australia.
Monday afternoon, Qantas offered her flights from New York to Australia to watch a Test between Australia and England.
"Qantas wants to see @theashes in Australia. We'll fly her from New York to Australia for the Ashes!," the airline tweeted Monday afternoon.
The young Massachusetts babysitter, originally from Maine, became an instant Twitter celebrity when she declared to the world: "I AM NOT A FREAKING CRICKET MATCH!!!".
Ms Kerekes wrote the tweet in response to cricket-related messages due to her Twitter username, @TheAshes.
Ms Kerekes told this website what happened next hit her for six.
"I was out Christmas shopping with my aunt and I got a Twitter [direct message] from a friend of mine telling me that some guy was trying to get information about me," she said.
"I'd turned off notifications on my phone right after my first outburst so I had no idea. After that I went looking around and found that I had hundreds, maybe thousands, of messages about The Ashes."
Ms Kerekes had about 300 followers at the start of the first Test at the Gabba. As of Monday afternoon, she had more than 5200.
And it was all thanks to a username that had more to do with her given name than a biennial cricketing contest between Australia and England.
"My boyfriend gave me the nickname years ago, maybe because of the cricket tournament. We don't remember. He's been calling me The Ashes forever," Ms Kerekes said.
"When we started Twitter accounts back in 2007, before Twitter was cool, it was just something we used back and forth so I used my nickname he gave me."
Ms Kerekes said despite the confusion she would never change her username and said becoming an overnight Twitter celebrity was "amazing".
"I've been into social media for a long time, but I was never this popular," Ms Kerekes said.
Ms Kerekes said even her mother was getting in on the action.
"She thinks it's amazing that her daughter is getting famous for making a bitchy comment," she said.
"But now she's known for being even bitchier on twitter! So now everyone knows where I got it from."
Ms Kerekes said the incident had sparked in her an interest in cricket and she was keen to learn more about the game however she was choosing to remain neutral on which side she was backing.
"I intend on reading up on rules and such as soon as I recover from the shock. Right now, I'm just having a blast reading everyone's tweets to me," she said.
And as for a #gettheashestotheashes movement on Twitter, directed mainly at airlines and broadcasters to fly her to Australia to witness Test first hand, Ms Kerekes said she was keen on the idea.
"I most certainly would not object to a free trip to Australia!" she said.
"I'm working with some people on some things."
A spokesman for VAustralia, one of the airlines targeted in the online campaign, said he was aware of the movement, but there was "nothing in it" at this stage.
Vodafone also seems keen to help Ms Kerekes get to Australia recently Tweeting – "We want to #gettheashestotheashes so if @theashes can get over here we'll pony up #theashes tickets & a phone so she can tweet."
According to Ms Kerekes, Vodafone has already been in contact with her and the prospect of visiting Australia for the first time was looking good.
In a bid to start fundraising for the trip Ms Kerekes has begun selling t-shirts online featuring the slogan 'I am not a freaking cricket match'.
While some Twitter users have criticised her for trying to make a quick buck, Ms Kerekes has defended her actions.
"I hope no one is offended by me making t-shirts. I probably (sic) make 2 cents a shirt. I'm not trying to get rich just have fun," she tweeted.
0 comments:
Post a Comment