When casual fans talk about cricket, they mostly focus on the men’s division. Yet, there are plenty of women who have left an impact on the beautiful game. It is only fair to dedicate the same amount of time to them, despite the highest degree of popularity male cricket has. The gentleman’s game is no longer reserved for men only. It hasn’t been for a while now. Some of the best female cricket players have left their mark on the game as far as half a century ago. Let’s talk about some of the ladies who have written their names in the cricket history books.
Rachael Heyhoe Flint
Let’s start with the lady whose name is always mentioned when talking about how female cricket has revolutionized. She did plenty of intentional cricket both on field and off the pitch. Her major success in career came in an England shirt. Rachael captained the national team of England for over a decade from 1966 to 1978. The Three Lions have won their first Women’s World Cup under Heyhoe Flint captaincy. The funny part is that in the gentlemen’s game it were the ladies who took home the first crown for England. At the moment she retired, Heyhoe Flint was one of the most decorated female players to ever grace the field, and when you know that she had a career that spanned for over 20 years, this comes as no surprise.
Charlotte Edwards
Edwards is yet another highly decorated England captain. She walked in Rachael Heyhoe Flint’s footsteps and captained the Three Lions team for a decade from 2006 to 2016. The interesting part about her career is that it started early on in her teenage, as Charlotte Edwards made her debut for England as a 16 year old way back in 1996 against New Zealand. In a career that lasted 20+ years, Edwards has amassed 5992 runs in 191 ODIs, 2605 runs in 95 matches, and 1676 runs in 23 tests. As if that wasn’t enough she is credited for 13 international centuries, having those in 9 ODIs and 4 Tests. Seen as a legend today, her playstyle is claimed to have been able to fit perfectly into modern games and competitions such as Major League Cricket.
Mithali Raj
No list of this kind could have been compiled without mentioning Mithali Raj. India is revered for their men’s cricket, and rightly so, but on the ladies side, Raj is one of the best players, if not the best the country has ever produced. She can proudly hold her ground next to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, and Virat Kohli.
Mithali Raj had a long and healthy career that went on for 23 years. Her biggest success was taking the India national team to two World Cup finals. She is the only player to do so, both in male and female competitions. Also, her record of 10.000 runs in international cricket stands to this day as she is the only female player to achieve that feat. On the day she called the final whistle on her career, Raj had 7805 runs in 232 ODIs, 2364 runs in T20Is, and 699 runs in Tests, along with 8 hundreds, 7 in ODIs and 1 in Tests.
Ellyse Perry
As far as the popularity of cricket goes, Australia is only second to India. The popularity of the sport in the land down under has given birth to some of the best players in both divisions. As far as ladies go, Australia has produced one of the best all rounders in the game ever in Ellyse Perry. If you want to be even more impressed, Perry has represented Australia at World Cups in both cricket and football. She decided that cricket is where she feels better, and it was the best decision cricket fans could have hoped for. During her career she became only one of few selected female cricket players to record 1000 runs and pick up 100 wickets in the ODI format. During her career, which still lasts, Perry featured for Australia at two ODI World Cups, winning both, and doing it six times for the T20I squad at the World Cup. Her last major success was winning the gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Meg Lanning
As we said, Australia loves cricket, and producing standout female players is what they do best. As far as Lanning’s career goes, she is dubbed as one of the best captains the sport has ever seen. During her stint as the captain of the Southern Stars, she won one ODI World Cup in 2022 and 4 T20I World Cup titles. In addition to being one of the most revered national teams captains in all of Australia’s sports, she’s also praised for her one of a kind batting skills. So far, as her career is still going strong, she has more than 8000 runs across all formats, and 17 international centuries.
Jhulan Goswami
Another name from the famous Indian school of cricket, Goswami is one of a kind player too. She is seen as the fastest pacer the world of female cricket has ever seen. Furthermore, she is seen as an inspiration for all women in India who take upon to play this sport, as she has revolutionized the game with both her play and demeanour off the pitch. A career that spanned for over two decades, helped Jhulan take down 255wickets in ODIs, 56 wickets in T20Is, and 44 wickets in Tests. At the time of her retirement, Goswami was the leader in number of wickets taken in women’s cricket with 355.
Cathryn Fitzpatrick
During her 16 year career Fitzpatrick has done more than some players do in two decades and more. The speed of her balls was long considered a hellish encounter for any batter standing across her. Cathryn Fitzpatrick will be remembered as one of the top bowlers of all time, as she managed to only concede runs at an economy of 1.91 in Tests, and 3.01 in ODIs. Way back in 2005 she made history for being the first female cricket player to claim 150 wickets in ODI format. When it was all said and done, Cathryn Fitzpatrick has had 240 international wickets playing for Australia, with 60 of them being in T20Is and 180 in ODI format.
Loves all things female cricket