[5] She has been a passionate advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and represented Cricket Australia in the 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

She and her identical twin sister Kate attended Barker College on the North Shore of Sydney as boarders.

She had few opportunities with the bat, scoring 54 runs at 27.00 but was unexpectedly successful with the ball, taking a total of 4/34 despite only having one previous wicket at senior level.

She then made her Test debut in a two-match series against England at the Gabba in Brisbane, hitting a half-century in the latter fixture.

[9][10] Blackwell retained her position in the national team for the Rose Bowl series, which consisted of three matches each in New Zealand and then Australia.

[9] The Australians hosted New Zealand for three Rose Bowl ODIs in the western coastal city of Perth before the teams crossed the Indian Ocean to reach South Africa.

The final pool match against India was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to inclement weather, and Australia met England in the semi-finals.

Blackwell took two catches, her first at Test level, removing Claire Taylor and Jenny Gunn as the hosts ended on 7/172 to salvage a draw.

[9] After a strong WNCL season, Blackwell was retained for the series against India in Adelaide at the end of the Australian summer.

Opening the batting, she made a 17-ball duck in the one-off Test at the Adelaide Oval, which Australia won by an innings.,[9][12] where she ended the series with 83 runs at 41.50.

[9] After the end of the Australian season, Blackwell was selected for the ODI team for a four-nations tournament in Chennai, India.

[9] Blackwell was retained in the Rose Bowl series held in tropical Darwin in July 2007, the middle of the southern hemisphere winter.

After making five as England took a 2–1 series lead, Blackwell made 61 in the final match to help set up a series-levelling 41-run win.

In the second innings, she made 24 before being bowled for the second time in the matches by pace bowler Isa Guha as the tourists won by six wickets in hand.

[9] During the 2008 Australian winter, Blackwell travelled to England for a domestic season in the northern hemisphere summer, playing for Berkshire in the county competition, and Rubies in the Super Fours.

[9] Blackwell failed to capitalise on her starts for the county, registering scores of 41, 22, 0, 39 and 30 in her five one-day innings for a total of 132 runs at 26.40.

[9] In the opening match of the World Cup campaign, Blackwell made four as Australia fell short of their target on the Duckworth-Lewis method.

[9] In the first Super Six match, against India, Blackwell scored 54 as Australia made 7/218, falling 17 runs of their target.

The Australians hosted New Zealand for a three-match series in tropical Darwin at the beginning of June before the World Cup, and Blackwell played in all the matches, making 11 not out and 10 in her two innings.

[9] Blackwell led Australia in the Rose Bowl series against New Zealand in 2010 due to an injury to incumbent captain Jodie Fields.

The three matches in Hobart were closely fought; Blackwell made 11, top-scored with 40, and added 26 as New Zealand won by two, one and seven runs respectively.

The hosts won the last two matches in New Zealand convincingly by 59 and 17 runs; Blackwell made 9 and 8 as the Australians were bowled out for 73 and 98.

[9][13] Blackwell led the team at the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies and captained in every match after Fields was again forced out by injury.

In the first match against England, Blackwell ran out Holly Colvin to end the innings with 15 balls unused.

[19] In the next match against South Africa, Blackwell made 9 from 14 balls, the only Australian in the first seven batting positions to score at less than a strike rate of 133.33.

In her first match against Queensland, she bowled two expensive overs, conceding 18 runs, and was not required to bat as New South Wales won by six wickets.

[9] Blackwell made her senior debut for New South Wales in the 2001–02 Women's National Cricket League (WNCL).

It was against India, the same opposing team as for her second ODI century, and at the same venue, Manuka Oval in Canberra,[33] where, as she later wrote, she "... always batted well.

[42][43][44] Blackwell is a passionate advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and represented Cricket Australia in the 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

[4] She is an in-demand public speaker talking about gender equality and LGBTI inclusion in sport, and her experiences as a professional athlete.