Cricket continues to be one of the most popular sports on the planet and efforts by the International Cricket Council, such as the creation of the World Test Championship, are helping to garner more interest. This popularity goes beyond just eyeballs watching matches in person and on TV; it also helps to boost the number of people placing bets on cricket. Interest in cricket wagering has been helped further in recent years by comparison sites like oddschecker that have made it possible for fans to compare the different free bet offers offered to them by bookies.
However, despite this, women’s cricket sadly continues to lack the same attention that the men’s game gets. This is despite the fact that there are (and have been) some incredible players competing in female competitions, including these legends.
Myrtle Maclagan
Myrtle Maclagan competed in cricket between 1934 and 1951 and took part in the first-ever women’s Test match between England and Australia. Events in the early 1940s punctuated her career, giving her few opportunities to compete, managing just 14 Tests.
Maclagan didn’t let that hold her back, however. She picked up 1,007 runs and 60 wickets over those matches and was even captain for two of them.
Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj is the former captain of the Indian women’s national team. She started her international career back in 1999 when she took part in an ODI match against Ireland. Three years later, Raj took part in her first Test, playing against England in January 2002.
Since then, the Indian has gone on to pick up over 10,000 international runs, beating Charlotte Edwards’ record in July 2021. Adding to her list of firsts, in 2019, Raj became the first female cricketer to compete at the international level for two decades. That same year, she also became the first woman to compete in 200 ODIs.
Sarah Taylor
Fast forward a few decades and Sarah Taylor is very much following in Maclagan’s footsteps. Starting her career in 2006, she’s picked up record after record, including becoming the first woman to play grade cricket in Australia back in 2015. She’s also led England to World Cup and World T20 titles and became the youngest female player to reach 1,000 runs in ODI games.
Those 1,000 runs helped her to surpass more than 6,000 total runs in all types of international matches. While that’s not a record, it’s certainly very impressive.
Loves all things female cricket