Today is a very exciting day in the history of women’s cricket with the launch of the first-ever ODI player ratings for women. Here's the full list.
I think this is an important step for the game, as I really believe it will make a difference to the profile of the women’s game.
When you see what has happened to the women’s game in the last five years, I think it is very encouraging that we are beginning to get treated in the same way as the men’s players.
It doesn’t surprise me that Claire Taylor is the number one batter in the world. When we played against England in August we were all really impressed by her mental toughness.
Even when she is going through a difficult stage in her innings, she just keeps on focusing and makes sure that the scoreboard is ticking over.
You need that kind of attitude and consistency from your leading players if you want to be a top international team and I think that is why England has been so effective over the past year.
Jhulan Goswami also deserves to be the number one bowler in women’s cricket. She is a very difficult bowler to face.
I have played against at her in the World Cup and the Afro-Asia Cup and I think it is her pace that is one of her biggest assets. She also uses her height to extract bounce off the wickets and bowls an excellent line and length.
There aren’t many bowlers in the women’s international game that have all those assets and who apply them on a consistent basis.
I am also delighted there are some South Africans in the top 20 of the batting and bowling rankings.
It is an honour to be named in the top 20 of the batting rankings, while I am delighted the progress of Alicia Smith and Ashlyn Kilowan has also been recognised in the bowling rankings.
Since being dropped from the national team last year, Alicia has worked extremely hard not only to regain her place but really establish herself as one of the key players for South Africa
She is a very determined character and responds well to extra responsibility, which is why we used her to open the batting against England in some of matches on tour. I would expect her to emerge as one of the game’s leading al-rounders in the future.
Ashlyn’s story is an extraordinary one, given that she didn’t even start playing the game until after she left school, but she is a great example to provide to anybody on how hard work and dedication can help you achieve results. It is a terrific achievement to be in the top twenty of the world and I know everybody in our dressing room will be delighted for.
I am also really hopeful that we will see the likes of Charlize van der Westhuizen, Sunette Loubser and Trisha Chetty all be challenging for a place in the top 20 soon.
Our thoughts are still very much focused on the build up to the World Cup. Our provincial competition began in South Africa last weekend and we continually to work as hard as we can on our games to be ready for Australia in 2009.
The incentive of an improved player ranking will certainly be an added motivation for us and all the other teams to spend those extra hours in the gym or in the nets.
Posted by: memyselfenek at October 16, 2008 12:25 PM
Interesting... can you post the full list that you've obviously as I cant find it on the web...
Posted by: Don Miles at October 20, 2008 12:35 PM
An excellent article written by someone who has played at all levels of cricket at home and in the UK. Background on many women players is hard to come by.
Can I say I was most impressed with the performance behind the wickets of SA's keeper Chetty and consider her an excllent find for the SA team.
One technical point - the link above gives only the top 5 batsmen and bowlers. As Cri-Zelda implies the list runs to the top 20 in both these cases although only to 5 in the all-round category.
Mithali Raj, India's former captain, has been on the international circuit for a decade. In August 2006, she led India to their first-ever Test and series win in England and capped off the year by winning the Asia Cup - the second time in 12 months - without dropping a game. India, under her captaincy, also reached the World Cup final in 2005. Now, as one of the senior members of the side, and the premier batsman, a lot will be riding on her for the two World Cups - 50-over and Twenty20 - that India will play in 2009.
Urooj Mumtaz managed to juggle a course in dentistry along with captaining Pakistan. Their most recent triumph was qualifying for the World Cup next year and the 22-year old Urooj will lead a young team to Australia in hope of creating a favourable impression of the Pakistan women's team among the other sides as well as back home. A legspinner, she has a hat-trick against Zimbabwe.
Cri-zelda Brits became South Africa’s captain at the age of 23, standing in for Shandre Fritze in the home series against Pakistan in 2007. She followed this by captaining the side to a 3-0 series whitewash against the Netherlands as well as winning the first-ever Test between the two sides by 159 runs. In 2008 she scored her maiden ODI hundred and led South Africa to a spot in the World Cup after beating Pakistan in the Qualifiers final in Stellenbosch. She also coaches the Northwest women's team, based in Potchefstroom, and runs her own academy.
Shelley Nitschke combines playing for Australia and her state with working in cricket, as a school officer. A useful spinner, her batting is also worth talking about – she has developed into a handy allrounder. Her major achievements to date are winning the 2005 World Cup, taking 7 for 24 against England in Kidderminster in 2005 and being nominated for the ICC Women's Player of the Year in 2006-07. Although she has played netball, softball and basketball, cricket has always been her stand-out sport.
Ebony Rainford-Brent made history as one of eight England players to be handed a Chance to Shine coaching contract, allowing her flexibility around training. A top-order batsman, she fought back from what doctors thought was a career-killing back injury and could one day bowl again – calling her determined is an understatement. She is on the Surrey Academy and her Super 4s side is Diamonds. Proficient in basketball and athletics, she settled for playing cricket … and the drums.
Haidee Tiffen has played for New Zealand for more than ten years and is now their captain, having begun her career with Otago Under-21s before heading to Canterbury. She has played representational hockey, basketball and rugby – but cricket is her passion and won out over New Zealand junior hockey. She is particularly proud of winning the World Cup in 2000, reaching the 100-ODI milestone and being skipper. Her experience also includes playing for Sussex for two winters and she was also part of the first female academy in Lincoln. Somehow she also finds time to teach Health and PE at Hillmorton High School.
Isobel Joyce,a class bat with a steely mentality, comes from a family full of cricketers - twin sister Cecilia plays alongside her for Ireland and brother Dom for the men’s national team, while another brother, Ed, plays for England and Middlesex. Her first half-century came against a strong New Zealand attack in Dublin in 2004 and her figures of 4 for 20 helped her side beat Scotland by six wickets in the European Championship in 2001, where Ireland won all their three matches. Her 46 against Netherlands in the summer of 2007 helped to maintain her place in the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa. She was in outstanding form with both and ball during the tournament, scoring 148 runs at 37 and taking 10 wickets at an average of 7. She ran out five Pakistani players in Ireland's first match, before earning two successive Player-of-the-Match awards against Scotland and then Zimbabwe, against whom she scored 70 and took 4 for 10. She was named captain for their next series, against West Indies, after Heather Whelan pulled out because she was expecting.
Nadine George has been a regular for West Indies since her debut in 1999. She first led the side on their tour of Europe in June-July 2008, when West Indies thrashed Ireland and Netherlands while putting up a respectable performance against England. Nadine combines playing for West Indies and her national team, St.Lucia, with her day job as a Sergeant in the Police Marine Unit of the Royal St.Lucia Police Force. A left-hand batsman and wicketkeeper, Nadine says the highlights of her career are receiving an MBE at Buckingham Palace in 2005, being the first West Indies woman cricketer to score a century in a Test (in Pakistan in 2004), playing in the World Cup in South Africa (2005), and playing club cricket in Australia in 2006. Nadine also plays netball and volleyball and loves the marine environment and is passionate about diving. She is a qualified open water diver and during her working hours captains a 65 and 82 ft vessel. Her motto in life is "with hard work and dedication one can achieve".
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