Women’s cricket is booming, as are other sports in which women compete, and this was most evident at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020. The tournament created a boost in viewership, with great coverage, and it did wonders for the sport. We got to see the raw cricketing talent on show and there were some excellent games.
From these games, and in women’s cricket in general, there are some players who have made an impression. In this article, we look at five female cricket players who have made an impact and are either already superstars or who look to progress that way imminently.
1. Meg Lanning – Australia
Let’s start with Meg Lanning – one of the most decorated international female cricketers of all time. She is currently the captain of the Australian national team and shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed, despite her two Women’s World Cup wins and four ICC Women’s World Twenty20 titles, she remains as competitive as ever and is one of the best batswomen in the world.
As the first Australian to score 2,000 Twenty20 international runs, you could place a wager on Serious Sally to have a good innings whenever she plays. Indeed, for Australian international matches, you can usually pick her to score the most runs. If you are into sports betting too, there are sites that offer the best in sports betting education so you can improve your knowledge, place wagers responsibly, and learn the nuances of different cricket bets.
2. Sarah Glenn – England
Sarah Glenn is just 22 years old and hails from Derbyshire in England. She is an amazing leg-break bowler and has enjoyed great success in both domestic and international cricket. Glenn plays in both the English and Australian domestic competitions and currently bowls for Worcestershire and the Trent Rockets.
Internationally, Glenn has played in many Twenty20 matches, including the 2022 Australia Women’s Tri-Nation Series and the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Most recently, she was also named as part of the English team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
3. Laura Wolvaardt – South Africa
Wolvaardt is a promising South African player who was named to the ICC Team of the Tournament for the T20 World Cup. During the competition, she was never dismissed and racked up an impressive 94 runs. In addition to this recent amazing form, she has been competing for South Africa since the age of 16 and made her ODI debut against England. At this stage, she has made 16 half-centuries and two centuries, and we expect her to rise to greatness in the near future.
4. Shafali Verma – India
Shafali Verma entered professional women’s cricket at the age of just 15 and is already a superstar. She is renowned for her powerful hitting and excellent batting skills, and is regarded by many as one of the most powerful hitters in women’s cricket.
In 2019, she was the youngest player ever to play in a women’s Twenty20 international match, and is also the youngest female player to represent India in all three cricket formats. Her list of accolades is already incredible, despite her young age. For example, she was ranked as the number one batter in the women’s T20 World Cup.
She has also enjoyed great success in domestic competitions, playing for Indian teams Velocity and Haryana, and the Australia team the Sydney Sixers. At just 18, we can expect Verma to continue to dominate on the international stage and she has many talent-filled years ahead of her.
5. Sophie Ecclestone – England
Ecclestone is just 23 and has been playing top-level cricket for many years, both domestically and internationally. She is a left-arm spin bowler but bats too. Originally, she made her international Twenty20 debut for England against Pakistan and she has also played for England across all three cricket formats.
In the T20 World Cup, Ecclestone put on an impressive performance and has previously been ranked number one in the T20 bowling rankings. In 2018, she was also named the emerging player of the year. Due to the accolades and great success at a young age, we can expect Ecclestone to be a top player for the foreseeable future.
We hope you have found this article interesting. These are just a few of the current stars of women’s cricket and players who should make an impact in upcoming tournaments. There are other notable mentions too, such as New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr, and legendary players such as Ellyse Perry, Katherine Brunt, Sarah Taylor and Caprini Sthalekar. As the women’s sport continues to gain traction and improve in popularity, we can expect more stars to emerge and many of them to become household names.
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