Women’s cricket has witnessed several new developments over the past few years. A sport that was considered male-dominated has now seen almost equal domination by the females then be it as a player, an umpire, or a commentator. Find out the most popular female cricket commentators
Women commentators have made a great mark and have gained good recognition from cricket fans. Below are the most popular female commentators:
· Isa Guha:
Rated as the top female commentator in cricket by ‘Last Word of Sport’ in March this year, former England bowler, Isa Guha is a prominent face of the cricketing world. She was a part of the team that won the 2009 Women’s Cricket World Cup and after retiring in 2011, moved towards commentary. She currently works for Sky Sports during the British Summer and Fox Sports during the Australian Summer and also as a columnist for popular journals.
· Charlotte Edwards:
The first female cricketer to have scored 1000 runs, take 50 wickets as well as 50 catches in Women’s ODI, England’s Charlotte Edwards took up commentary after retiring completely from cricket in 2017 (she retired from international cricket in 2016). Recently, an English domestic women’s Twenty20 competition, the Charlotte Edwards Cup was named in her recognition.
· Lisa Sthalekar:
The India-born Australian cricketer Lisa Sthalekar is another celebrated commentator. The former captain of the Australian team, Sthalekar was one of the leading all-rounders of her team. She took up the role of a commentator after ending her international cricket career which she announced, a day after winning the 2013 Women’s Cricket World Cup.
· Ebony-Rainford Brent:
The first black women cricketer from England, Ebony-Rainford Brent was honored with the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to cricket and charity. She now works as a commentator with Sky Sports and since 2017, has hosted a podcast “The Art of Success”.
· Mel Jones:
Getting into commentary during the 2007 T20 World Cup for Australia’s Channel 9, Mel Jones was yet another great player for the Aussies majorly with the bat but occasionally with the ball as well. Jones was a part of the commentary team for leagues such as the Big Bash League, Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League, and in 2018 was signed by Fox Sports.
· Anjum Chopra:
The face of Women’s Cricket in India, former captain Anjum Chopra is another great commentator. She had a brilliant cricketing year with various awards to her name from 1995 till 2012 as a batter and an occasional bowler and played 6 World Cups (4-ODIs, 2-T20Is) representing India. She is an inspiration for the female cricketers of the country who look up to her for a good dose of motivation.
· Alison Mitchell:
An English Cricket commentator and sports broadcaster, Alison Mitchell, has been a commentator for both women’s and men’s cricket since 2007. She was the first woman to become a regular commentator on the BBC’s Test Match Special. Apart from cricket, she has also reported and commentated on other sports as well which include Tennis, the Olympics, and the Commonwealth Games to name a few.
· Marina Iqbal:
Former Pakistani cricketer, Marina Iqbal is another female commentator on the list. She represented the national side from 2009 to 2015 and was a part of the Pakistani team that won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, held in China.
· Urooj Mumtaz:
Another former Pakistani cricketer on the list is all-rounder Urooj Mumtaz who is a dentist by profession. She played for the national team from 2004 till 2010 and captained the side in the 2009 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. Last year, she became the first Pakistani women commentator to do commentary for a Men’s ODI match.
· Lydia Greenway (England):
The 38-year-old former England all-rounder made her international debut on 15th February 2003 in a Test match against Australia. She has represented England in over 220 matches (14 Tests, 126 ODIs, and 85 T20Is) across formats at the international level. She scored over 4,000 runs (Tests: 362 runs, ODIs: 2,554 runs, and T20Is: 1,192 runs). After her retirement from International cricket, she is working as a freelance broadcaster for Sky Sports and BBC. She is also the founder of Cricket for Girls and the Female Cricket Store.
· Katey Martin (New Zealand):
The 39-year-old wicket-keeper batter from New Zealand made her international debut on 27th November 2003 in a Test match against India. She has represented New Zealand in nearly 200 matches (199 matches: 1 Test, 103 ODIs, and 95 T20Is) scoring over 2,800 runs (49 Tests, 1793 ODIs, and 996 in T20Is). Her tally of runs includes 7 half-centuries and 4 half-centuries in T20Is. After her retirement, she turned into a commentator.
· Sana Mir (Pakistan):
The 38-year-old former Pakistan spinner made her international debut on 28th December 2005 in an ODI against Sri Lanka. She represented Pakistan in over 220 matches and picked up over 200 wickets (151 ODI and 89 T20I) in the whiteball format. Her tally of wickets includes 7 four-wicket hauls and 1 five-wicket haul in the ODI format and 4 four-wicket hauls in the T20I format. After she retired from International cricket she turned into a commentator.
· Kass Naidoo (South Africa):
Kass Naidoo became the first female television cricket commentator in South Africa in 2005 after making her cricket broadcasting debut at the 2003 ICC World Cup for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. In her 18-year broadcasting journey, she has hosted four cricket World Cups and commentated on multiple T20I, ODI, and Test matches. She was also invited to be a part of the commentary panel in the Pakistan Super League.
Her gender-empowering broadcasting breakthrough paved the way for future women sports broadcasters in South Africa and has worked over the years to mentor the next generation of broadcast talent.
· Chandra Nayudu (India):
She was India’s first female cricket commentator. She took up cricket commentary in the 1970s. She began her career in commentary in a match between the touring Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Vs Bombay in the 1976-77 season and continued to commentate for domestic and international matches in Hindi and English. She was also a commentator during the England team’s tour of India in 1979-1980 for All India Radio. She was also the first female international cricket commentator.
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