The players to watch out for in upcoming women’s T20 series
In a prelude to the Women’s T20 World Cup, India and England are coming down under, And there’s a stack of stars on display. CricViz experts have crunched the numbers on who is likely to dominate.
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In the countdown to the Women’s T20 World Cup, Australia host India and England in a tri-series. We asked CricViz analysts Ben Jones and Rufus Bullough to label the players to watch next week.
Ellyse Perry (Australia)
Best women’s cricketer in the world and has dominated the game for more than a decade. In all T20 competitions, she averages 47.13 with the bat, the second-best average in the world for those who have scored more than 1000 runs. She is only second to compatriot Meg Lanning. Perry is utterly dominant against all types of bowling, but favours the spinners. She averages 53.58 against spin and scores at 6.58 runs per over. Although not the most free-scoring player on display in the series, she is one of the most consistent run-getters. Perry would walk into any team as a batter alone, so the fact she has some of the best bowling stats makes her an absolutely invaluable player for captain Meg Lanning to build her side around. She has 124 T20 wickets, at an average of 23.87 — for just over a run a ball. She bowls at an average pace of 111.95km/h, which out of those who have played five or more games with ball-tracking data recorded, it is the fourth-fastest average speed in the women’s game. If the pitches in Canberra and Melbourne have pace, she will be a real threat.
Alyssa Healy (Australia)
Hands down one of the most destructive batters in the women’s game, with a career strike rate of 132.78. She is also one of the most effective run makers. If you calculate her batting index (strike-rate + average), she comes out with a figure of 159.91, the second-highest figure of all time (min 1500 T20 runs) behind compatriot Beth Mooney (162.03). Healy is also a star with the gloves. From our CricViz fielding database, she stacks up well with a catch success rate of 85.7 per cent, coupled with an 87 per cent stumping success rate.
Tammy Beaumont (England)
One of England’s most consistent performers in the past few years across all formats. Has scored 2692 runs over the past decade in T20 and is one of only two English women to have scored a T20 hundred. She is a frequent sweeper of the ball, sweeping or reverse-sweeping 20 pre cent of deliveries faced from spinners, the most of any English player. She is also an effective cutter of the ball and averages more than 70 runs per dismissal while playing it.
Dani Wyatt (England)
Without doubt the most destructive player in the English roster. She has scored the most T20 runs (3699) with the highest strike rate (124.00), boundary percentage (16.79 per cent) and number of career sixes (64) of any English woman to play the game. What she lacks, however, is consistency, having the lowest dismissal rate (19.8) and average (24.66) of any of England’s leading five runscorers in the shortest format. But when she gets in, she goes big, having notched up three T20 hundreds, with a highest score of 124. She is one of a group of only six women to have brought up their century on three or more occasions.
Harmanpreet Kaur (India)
The Indian captain is the most experienced player in the tour squad, having played a total of 159 competitive T20 matches, and has the third-best T20 batting average (30.31) of any Indian player to have scored more than a thousand T20 runs. She also possesses an elusive T20 hundred — one of only three Indians to have reached the landmark. Consistent performer since her making her international debut in 2009. Kaur also bowls handy off-spin and will be looking to provide her team with great control and wicket-taking potential if she brings herself on. The skipper will be looking to add to her T20 tally of 41 wickets at an average of 22.98.
Jess Jonassen (Australia)
The left-arm spinner is one of the key cogs of the Australian winning machine. Adaptable to the situation and able to toss it up or sling it in, she’s got a proven track record — no Aussie bowler has taken more T20 wickets in the last two years. She’s in excellent form as well off the back of a fantastic WBBL for Brisbane Heat: 22 wickets — a figure only bettered by Molly Strano at the Melbourne Renegades — at a fantastic economy rate of 6.8rpo.
Jemimah Rodrigues (India)
Still only 19 years old, excitement has surrounded her since she came into the Indian side two years ago. While her performances with the bat have been solid rather than spectacular, her performances against spin can’t be faulted. In 38 T20 innings, she has amassed 651 runs against the spinners at a wonderful average of 50.07. Combined with her more-than-adequate scoring rate of 7.1rpo, Rodrigues’ role, in an era when female spin bowlers have never been as skilled or influential, is huge. This could be a breakthrough few months for the young woman.
Smriti Mandhana (India)
A superstar of the Indian side, Mandhana will be key to any success her nation may have in either this series or the World Cup itself. Since the start of 2018, nobody has scored more international T20 runs than Mandhana, who has accrued a remarkable 1027 runs at a scoring rate of just under 8rpo. One of her best strokes is the pull shot — at international level, she scores at 12.5rpo and averages 46 runs per dismissal. On the harder Australian wickets that we will see in the World Cup, her rich vein of form is set to continue.
Sophie Ecclestone (England)
In 2019, Katherine Brunt was the only person to take more T20 wickets in an England shirt than Sophie Ecclestone — that’s serious company for the young English finger-spinner. Tall with an upright action, Ecclestone has been extremely effective against right-handers in this form of the game, going at less than a run a ball and taking wickets every 16 deliveries. As part of an England side slightly out of sorts and looking for inspirations, she could well be the spark that sets them back on course for World Cup glory.
Nat Sciver (England)
Capable of starring with bat and ball, the Surrey all-rounder Nat Sciver caught the eye with the ball in her WBBL stint this season. Six wickets at an economy of just under seven was reasonably impressive, but the more startling statistic related to how often she drew mistakes from the opposition batters. Twenty-eight per cent of her deliveries brought a miss or an edge, the best in WBBL. Her batting always threatens, but it could be with the ball that Sciver dominates in the coming weeks.
FIXTURES
TOUR MATCH
Mon, Jan 27: T20 — Australia v Cricket Australia XI, Sydney Showground, 6.40pm
T20 TRI-SERIES
Tue, Jan 28: Governor General’s XI v India, Drummoyne Oval, 6.40pm
Fri, Jan 31: India v England, Manuka Oval, 2.10pm
Sat, Feb 1: Ausrtalia v England, Manuka Oval, 2pm
Sun, Feb 2: Australia v India, 2pm
Fri, Feb 7: India v England, Junction Oval, St Kilda, 2.10pm
Sat, Feb 8: Australia v India, Junction Oval, 2.10pm
Sun, Feb 9: Ausrtalia v England, Junction Oval, 2.10pm
Wed, Feb 12: Final, Junction Oval, 1.40pm
Burns to help give Aussies the edge
Jocelyn Airth
Erin Burns might be new to the Australian cricket team, but she’s one of the only players with intel on 15-year-old Indian sensation Shafali Verma.
The teenager made her debut for India last September last year and already she has become the youngest Indian to score an international half-century.
Verma has since made nine international appearances and scored 222 runs for her country.
Burns was blown away when the teen bashed 124 off 78 balls in the opening one-dayer between Australia A and India A last month to set up a 2-1 series win for the tourists.
“I had a good look at her during that series — she’s got a lot of fire power behind her and certainly doesn’t fear anything. She’s on from ball one,” Burns said.
“But after that first game, we managed to go away and make a good plan to keep her relatively quiet throughout the rest of the series.”
The allrounder expects Verma will again come out firing in the tri-series involving Australia, India and England, starting this Friday in Canberra.
The tri-series will allow Australia to get a glimpse at how two of their toughest opponents are shaping up just weeks out of the World Cup, which starts on February 21.
“We play India first-up at the World Cup so that’ll allow us to get a good look at their team. They’ve got a few newbies in their squad and it’ll be interesting to see how they use their new girls,” Burns said.
“They’re a bit of a surprise package ... real explosive power in their batting order and really experienced members of their bowling attack, I think they’ve got what it takes to really push deep into the competition.”
“And England, we had the better of them at the Ashes but I’m sure that’ll have ignited a fire in their bellies, they're not a team to discount.”
Burns has emerged as one of the best fielders in the world, but only made her international debut last year at the age of 30.
The allrounder said she is still learning the lay of the land, but is loving every minute with the Australian side.