Photo Credit: Sydney Sixers
As the eight teams prepare for the start of the 12th ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand on 4 March, they will all be able to call on stalwarts who have delivered time and time again. We have picked two from each team who could have a big impact and determine how things pan out in the month-long tournament.
Australia
Ellyse Perry
Ellyse Perry has dominated with bat and ball at ICC Women’s World Cups since 2009.
The all-rounder has made 510 runs at an average of 56.66, ending not out seven times in 16 innings, while her 26 wickets have come at an average of 25.07.
Her best bowling performance of three for 19 came against the West Indies in the 2013 World Cup Final.
Megan Schutt
Megan Schutt has taken one fewer wicket than Perry but brought up her quarter-century of wickets at just two World Cups.
At her debut tournament in 2013, the right-arm seamer took a competition-high 15 wickets and backed it up four years later with 10 more meaning she heads to New Zealand with an average of just 22.16.
Bangladesh
Rumana Ahmed
Bangladesh are yet to make their bow at an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, but they have always been able to count on all-rounder Rumana Ahmed.
At T20 World Cups, she has taken 16 wickets at an average of 23.43 and in all ODIs she has contributed 893 runs including five half centuries.
Salma Khatun
Someone as equally reliable for Bangladesh is Salma Khatun. In her 37 ODI appearances she has taken 41 wickets including three for six against Zimbabwe last November.
Her high score of 75 not out is the best performance for Bangladesh in an ODI and she is a key leader, having captained the T20 side since 2018.
England
Tammy Beaumont
Tammy Beaumont has been racking up the accolades since the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017, they where she finished not just as a champion but as Player of the Tournament.
She ended England’s victorious campaign with 410 runs, including a high score of 148 against South Africa, before going on to be named ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year last year.
Katherine Brunt
While Beaumont was playing her first 50-over World Cup in 2017, Katherine Brunt was appearing in her fourth and will be back for more in New Zealand.
Brunt has taken bowled 208 overs at World Cups on her way to 25 wickets and two titles, the most of any of England’s squad.
India
Jhulan Goswami
Another player to make their debut at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2005 was fellow medium-fast bowler Jhulan Goswami.
The right-armer has taken 36 wickets and is just four shy of breaking Lyn Fullston’s all-time record of 39 at World Cups.
Mithali Raj
India’s captain Mithali Raj will play in a record sixth World Cup having featured first back in 2000.
Since then, she has played 31 matches and scored 1139 runs, the fifth-most of any player, while her nine half-centuries put her one behind New Zealand legend Debbie Hockley.
She is likely to break Belinda Clark’s record of most World Cup matches as captain, needing just three more to surpass Clark’s 23.
New Zealand
Suzie Bates
Only Debbie Hockley has scored more World Cup runs for the White Ferns than Suzie Bates, who topped the standings in 2013 with 407 runs.
In 2009, as she made her World Cup debut, Bates was named as an opener in the Team of the Tournament having scored 275 runs, while 2017 saw her bring her overall total to 924.
Amy Satterthwaite
Not too far behind Bates is Amy Satterthwaite who has scored 559 runs across three World Cups including a high score of 103 against England in 2013.
In all ODIs, the left-hander has played 130 innings and scored 4420 runs and with over 2000 of those coming in boundaries.
Pakistan
Diana Baig
Diana Baig made an impression at her first World Cup in 2017, the right-arm medium-fast bowler taking seven wickets.
That now means she is the joint-best performer at a World Cup in the current Pakistan squad, sharing the accolade with Nashra Sandhu who has also took seven scalps, but Baig did so with a better average.
Bismah Maroof
Bismah Maroof will lead Pakistan at an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup for the first time but has long put in valuable performances.
Since making her debut in 2009 Maroof has scored 195 runs at a strike rate of 43.52 and has also bowled sparingly when called to, with an economy of 4.61.
South Africa
Marizanne Kapp
Marizanne Kapp finished second in the wicket-takers column with 13 in 2017, just two behind wife Dane van Niekerk.
That took her total to 20 wickets from three World Cups, and she also scored 248 runs including an unbeaten century against Pakistan in 2013.
Shabnim Ismail
Shabnim Ismail joined Kapp as one of the top wicket-takers in 2017, with 10 dismissals at an average of 26.40.
Since 2009, the fast bowler has taken 22 wickets in World Cups with best figures of four for 41 coming against Australia in 2013.
West Indies
Anisa Mohammed
As Anisa Mohammed prepares for her fifth World Cup, she has plenty of experience to call on having played 18 matches at the game’s showpiece event for the West Indies.
Across those five tournaments, the right arm off-spinner has taken 15 wickets at an average of 33.13 and will pass on her knowledge as she serves as Stafanie Taylor’s vice-captain.
Stafanie Taylor
The true definition of an all-rounder, with the bat Taylor has crunched 688 runs in 21 World Cup innings, the most of any West Indian.
As a bowler, the skipper has taken 22 wickets in World Cups, again the most of the Windies women, and she heads into the tournament sitting in the top ten of the MRF Tyres ICC ODI all-rounder rankings.
Name of Author: ICC
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body for cricket, founded in 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference. Renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, it became the ICC in 1987. Headquartered in Dubai, UAE, the ICC has 108 member nations.
