'The gap is closing.'
It's a claim that has now been made over the past 12 months by all three national teams that sit directly below Australia on the ICC rankings.
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Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said it after India's tight semi-final loss in the T20 Word Cup: "We back ourselves when play against Australia now, because we've been able to beat them a few times."
English bowler Kate Cross said it after a drawn Women's Ashes series: "We definitely think we're closing the gap to Australia, the fact that we're 8-8 at the end of it, it doesn't feel fair that the trophy is going back with them."
Then this week, after South Africa upset Australia for the second time in a fortnight, beating them in both a T20I and an ODI for the very first time in history, all-rounder Marizanne Kapp said: "There's definitely a change … I think everyone is catching up a bit around the world."
The dominance the Australians had under the previous captaincy of Meg Lanning, particularly since their 2017 Cricket World Cup semi-final exit, has clearly frustrated the rest of the world.
That loss became the catalyst for a truly remarkable run, seeing the Australians revamp their whole set-up and approach to selection, to go on to win three T20 World Cups (2018, 2020, 2023) and a Cricket World Cup (2022), set a world record-breaking ODI match winning streak (26 matches) and mark a decade of dominance in bi-lateral ODI series (2013-2023).
In November, that stunning era came to an end when Lanning announced her international retirement – following the 2022 departures of head coach Matthew Mott and vice-captain Rachael Haynes. A month later, a new era began under Alyssa Healy.
Healy had already stepped up to replace Haynes as vice-captain in October 2022 and acted as a stand-in skipper on four occasions in Lanning's absence before she earnt the full-time gig to work alongside Mott's replacement as coach, Shelley Nitschke, and newly appointed vice, Tahlia McGrath.
As a leader, Healy has already tasted success, winning a multi-format series overseas in India and guiding Australia to its first Test victory in eight years whilst retaining the Ashes.
However, there have been a few more hiccups than the team is used to and these moments, coupled with the changing dynamic of personnel, has made it obvious Healy is still finding her feet.
A change in coach has seen the team head in a slightly different direction, there's a few new faces around the group learning how to play international cricket, and the team has had to adjust without the 408-capped experience shared between Lanning and Haynes in the middle order.
With all that being said, the Australians are still – at this stage – winning or retaining each series, so although the journey may be a bit wobbly along the way throughout this transition, the outcome has been much the same.
So, what does Healy think about this proposed 'gap'?
"No, I'm the person that has never believed that the gap ever existed," Healy said.
"What I will say is Australian cricket has led the way in supporting their women's team and enabling them access to facilities and resourcing to make them better … that's where we've driven the game.
"But I think the gap in skill level is not as big as everyone thinks.
"From a resourcing point of view, the gap is far greater in the men's game when you look at how they're paid, where the money is coming from and what access they've got.
"I don't believe it exists in women's cricket and it's been proven over the last few seasons, especially at the World Cups where there have been several upsets."
ABC Sport caught up with several members of the team to hear their thoughts on this topic and it was interesting to see a difference in opinion amongst the group.
Players like Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney had similar opinions to Healy, backing Australia's consistency with Mooney even going as far to say the gap was an "illusion" made up by the media.
Other veterans like Megan Schutt and Jess Jonassen were more on the fence, believing it was all about interpretation.
"If there is a so-called gap, it's likely to be in resourcing," Jonassen said.
"Every team around the word has a handful of superstars that can take the game away from you.
"But there's a lot of nations that are providing adequate resourcing now, so the fringe players or lower-ranked players are getting what they need to be able to upskill."
At the other end of the scale, were Ash Gardner, Darcie Brown, Tahlia McGrath, Alanna King and Phoebe Litchfield.
"I've grown up watching the team and I have been able to see the gap," Litchfield said.
"They've been winning for so long, and even being in the team now, I think you can still see it because we are the best team in the world, but teams are getting closer and that's only a positive for the world game – it gets boring when the same team wins everything.
"I think our challenge now is to find out how can we keep that gap to stay above the rest."
From the 10 that we interviewed, all players aged over 30 leant towards there being no gap. These players were also more likely to have debuted before Lanning became captain and before that line in the sand moment of the 2017 Cricket World Cup.
Meanwhile, the players in their 20s — all of which debuted under Lanning as captain — leant more towards there being a definite gap.
This breakdown shows that those that got to experience what it was like to play before Australia's most dominant period in history, are likely to remember what it was like before that stretch and what it took to create that level of consistency to be the best.
The younger players, largely, have a different ideal, watching that world dominance from an outsider's perspective before getting to join the group and experiencing the new standards already put in place.
As Schutt puts it: "The way people interpret that gap is going to be very different, we've been very fortunate to have a team that's been in form for a long time and that's a credit to our domestic structure that keeps us training and keeps us fit.
"With all the T20 leagues popping up around the world, if there is a gap to be closed it's probably that one, the format is fickle, so anyone can win a T20 on their best day and the fact we've been so consistent in that area probably makes the achievement even greater."
In 2021, the ECB introduced The Hundred, and in 2023, India held its inaugural Women's Premier League. But there have been further improvements that have also made a difference.
Last August, South Africa became the third country to introduce equal international match fees for men and women, following New Zealand and India's lead from the year earlier.
There has also been key structural change in these countries that have allowed domestic and national teams to contract more full-time players, allowing the athletes to dedicate all their time to training and preparing for cricket rather than trying to juggle other work.
It's this investment that makes Gardner believe the standard of play is growing on a global scale.
"Boards are putting more money into women's cricket, so naturally teams are going to get better and once that happens, we can play more multi-format series against more nations," Gardner said.
Whichever side you sit of #gapgate, at least we can all agree that tighter contests can only be good for the whole of women's cricket.
The side currently lead South Africa in the points-based multi-format series 6-4 and are back in action in the third and final ODI this Saturday.
You can hear that match, as well as the four-day Test at the WACA next week, on the ABC Listen app.
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