After every passing decade, women’s cricket has made a lot of transformation. From Belinda Clarke to Mithali Raj; Sarah Taylor to Smriti Mandhana cricket has witnessed lots of great female batters who have graced this game of cricket. So, let us look at the top 5 batters. This list is very difficult to compile since many batters over the last few decades have made their mark in international cricket.
1. Belinda Clark (Australia, 1991-2005)
Arguably Australia’s greatest player ever to play the game. Many people didn’t know that Belinda Clark is the first batter to score a double hundred in international cricket and not Sachin Tendulkar. She scored an unbeaten 229 off just 155 balls against Denmark in the 1997 World Cup. And, Alongside Betty Wilson, she is one of just two women to have been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
She captained the side from 1994 until 2005, leading the side to two World Cup wins and one final. When she was playing international cricket, she was also handed over the responsibility of the chief executive of Women’s Cricket Australia. Two roles at the same time. A brilliant batter who averaged 45.96 in Tests and 47.49 in ODIs with seven international centuries and she remains Australia’s leading ODI run-scorer. Belinda was named Australian Woman Cricketer of the Year 1998 by Wisden. She will remain one of the greatest female batters to ever graced the game.
2. Mithali Raj (India, 1999-2021*)
One of the greatest female batters in Indian cricket history. Mithali Raj made her ODI debut at the age of 19 against Ireland and scored an unbeaten 114 runs, In her very first match. She showed her talent and what she can do going forward. A phenomenal batter who has 669 runs in 11 test matches, 7170 runs in 215 ODIs at a staggering average of 51.21, and 2364 runs in 89 T20Is. She also took 8 wickets in ODIs with a bowling average of 11.37.
Mithali holds the record for the top position in ICC Best female batsman point table with 703 rating points. As a captain, she led the Indian women’s team to the finals of women’s cricket World Cup 2005, where they eventually lost to Australia. And then again in 2017, where they collapsed at the end and lost a winning match against England by 9 runs. In 2003, she was honored with Arjuna Award.
3. Charlotte Edwards (England, 1996-2016)
Edwards made her debut at the age of 16 in 1995 and became the youngest player ever to play for the English national team. She an outstanding batter, who went on to score more runs in international cricket than any other English player. She captained England between 2005 and 2016. In this period, England won Cricket World Cup, ICC World T20 in 2009, and three Ashes.
She has scored 1676 runs at an average of 444.10 with 4 hundred and 9 half-centuries in 23 test matches. 5992 runs in 191 ODI matches and 2605 runs in 96 T20Is. These numbers show how consistent she was throughout his career and won many matches for his side. She has also taken 12 wickets in ODI, 54 wickets in Test matches, and 3 wickets in international T20. Charlotte was inducted as one of the five Cricketers of the Year 2014 by Wisden.
4. Stafanie Taylor (West Indies, 2008-2021*)
Stafanie Taylor, one of the best female all-rounders in modern cricket. She made the debut at the age of 17 in 2008 and scored 90 runs from 49 balls on her T20 international debut. Currently, she has over 3000 runs at an average of 36.02 including 21 half-centuries in 108 T20I matches. She was also the only woman to score half-centuries in three consecutive T20 internationals.
Stafanie Taylor made a total of 4754 runs at an average of 44.01. She scored 36 half-centuries and 5 hundred in 126 One day internationals. She has never played a Test match. This shows how limited test matches happen in women’s cricket, but she still made almost 200 international appearances. She has also bagged 236 wickets in international cricket. And is the only woman to have scored a century and take four wickets in an ODI.
Taylor was the captain when the West Indies side won the 2016 ICC Women’s World T20. Stafanie was named ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2011 and became the first West Indian female cricketer to win this award. She is the only player in the game, male or female to have been ranked at number one in both the ICC’s batting and bowling rankings at the same time.
5. Suzie Bates (New Zealand, 2006-2021*)
Arguably, one of the best greatest female batters produced by New Zealand. Currently, Bates is the leading run-scorer for New Zealand in ODIs. She broke the record of highest runs of Debbie Hockley in 2018 against Ireland. To date, she has scored 4548 in 125 ODI matches at an average of 42.5 including 10 centuries and 27 half-centuries. In T20Is, 3301 runs in 122 matches. Suzie has also bagged 125 international wickets.
Suzie Bates currently holds the highest score and highest batting average in the New Zealand Women’s Twenty20 cricket team. She won the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 2013 and 2015, and T20I Cricketer of the Year 2015. Bates also represented New Zealand in Basketball during the 2008 summer Olympics
* above represents still playing