Australia star Lisa Sthalekar has been named as the leading all-rounder in women’s cricket at the launch of the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Women’s Player Rankings in Mumbai on Thursday.
Sthalekar enjoys a slender lead over team-mate Shelley Nitschke in the battle to be the number-one all-rounder, while Australia’s ICC Women’s World Cup hopes received a boost with the news that the world champion boasts four batters and five bowlers in the top 20 of the rankings.
Sthalekar, who was shortlisted for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards in Dubai last month, is just six ratings points ahead of the South Australian. In ranking terms, this is a very small margin which can be recovered in one match and with Australia to play India in a five-match ODI series later this month, both will be aiming to finish the series on a high.
“It’s great that the ICC is supporting women’s cricket through the launch of the player rankings. It will add interest to the women’s game and increase the profiles of the top players in the world,” Sthalekar said.
“Hopefully this will give greater exposure to women’s cricket and perhaps provide more sponsorship opportunities as well,” she added.
Sthalekar and Nitchke also lead the Australia players’ charge in the batting and bowling listings as both are in the top 10.
Sthalekar is in third place behind England’s Claire Taylor and Mithali Raj of India in the batting chart while Nitschke is ninth. Between the two are ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2006 Karen Rolton in seventh place and Alex Blackwell in eighth position.
Blackwell hopes women’s rankings will generate tremendous interest in the sport.
“I think it will generate quite a lot of interest. We are getting a bit more media coverage and growing interest on television,” said Blackwell.
“It will be interesting to see the match ups between the best bowlers and batters in the world. It will be another thing to strive for as you want to be ranked as high as you can and that will help generate some positive competition.
“As a batter, I would want to perform well against the better bowlers in the world. It won’t change how you play the game but it will make you very determined to do very well against the best players,” she said.
In the bowling table, Nitschke is third behind India’s Jhulan Goswami and Isa Guha of England while Sthalekar shares ninth place with England’s Katherine Brunt. Australia also has Emma Simpson (sixth), Kirsten Pike (11th) and Sarah Andrews (18th) in the top 20.
About Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Women’s Rankings and women’s cricket
The rankings have been introduced as part of the ICC’s continued promotion of women’s cricket. They will initially apply to ODI cricket only and will help identify where the leading players stand in women’s international cricket to add further competition and context to their achievements.
The first set of the rankings have been released ahead of the eagerly awaited series between Australia and India to be played in Sydney and Canberra from 31 October to 9 November.
The other series to be played in a lead-up to the ICC Women’s World Cup in March 2009 includes the five-match ODI series between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Sri Lanka from 5 November to 12 November and the traditional Rose Bowl series between New Zealand and Australia in New Zealand from 1 to 12 February.
Next year will be huge for women’s cricket with the ICC Women’s World Cup to be played in Sydney, Australia, from 7 to 22 March. This will be the first time the biggest event in women’s cricket will be played under the banner of the ICC following the merger with the International Women’s Cricket Council in 2005.
Then in June, the ICC World Twenty20 in England will include a men’s and women’s competition running simultaneously. The semi-finals and final of the women’s event will be played at the same venue on the same day as the men’s tournament.
Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Women’s Rankings (as of 18 October)
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 Claire Taylor Eng 804 39.13 820 v NZ at Blackpool 2007
2 Mithali Raj Ind 728 47.93 827 v Aus at Baroda Vadodar 2004
3 Lisa Sthalekar Aus 722 35.47 783 v NZ at Darwin 2007
4 Sarah Taylor Eng 699* 40.11 706 v Ind at Taunton 2008
5 C.M.Edwards Eng 658 37.05 694 v SA at Pretoria 2005
6 Nicola Browne NZ 653! 30.21 653 v Aus at Lincoln 2008
7 Karen Rolton Aus 620 49.54 867 v Ind at Vapi 2004
8 Alex Blackwell Aus 597! 30.46 597 v NZ at Lincoln 2008
9 S.Nitschke Aus 573*! 25.85 573 v NZ at Lincoln 2008
10 Sara McGlashen NZ 568 23.09 584 v Eng at Derby 2007
11 Haidee Tiffen NZ 557 29.50 764 v Ind at Lincoln 2006
12 Aimee Mason NZ 549 22.20 616 v Eng at Blackpool 2007
13 Jaya Sharma Ind 516 31.92 686 v Aus at Vapi 2004
14 Lydia Greenway Eng 489 22.55 512 v Aus at Sydney 2008
15 Anjum Chopra Ind 478 34.71 749 v Aus at Adelaide 2006
16 Jenny Gunn Eng 472 22.37 543 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
17= Dedunu Silva SL 468* 20.14 479 v Ind at Kurunegala 2008
Caroline Atkins Eng 468* 28.46 476 v Ind at Taunton 2008
19 Cri-Zelda Brits SA 466* 29.24 531 v NET at Stellenbosch 2008
20 Caitriona Beggs Ire 460 24.83 551 v NET at Dublin 2006
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating
1 Jhulan Goswami Ind 741 21.06 797 v Eng at Chennai 2007
2 Isa Guha Eng 720 18.43 741 v Ind at Taunton 2008
3 S.Nitschke Aus 675*! 22.27 675 v NZ at Lincoln 2008
4 Holly Colvin Eng 619* 19.90 632 v Ind at Arundel 2008
5 Jenny Gunn Eng 593 31.22 673 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
6 Emma Sampson Aus 548*! 25.17 548 v NZ at Lincoln 2008
7 Aimee Mason NZ 547 32.90 586 v Aus at Darwin 2007
8 Nicola Browne NZ 546 33.75 648 v Eng at Shenley 2007
9= Lisa Sthalekar Aus 545 29.10 602 v NZ at Brisbane 2006
Katherine Brunt Eng 545* 26.33 560 v Ind at Taunton 2008
11 Kirsten Pike Aus 540* 22.56 567 v NZ at Lincoln 2008
12 Rumeli Dhar Ind 534* 31.50 610 v SL at Dambulla 2008
13 Amita Sharma Ind 523 29.12 650 v Pak at Karachi 2005
14 Neetu David Ind 506 16.34 794 v WI at Pretoria 2005
15 Nicky Shaw Eng 502* 32.93 517 v Ind at Taunton 2008
16 Alicia Smith SA 494* 22.10 538 v Ire at Crowthorne 2008
17 Sajida Shah Pak 491* 26.48 499 v NET at Stellenbosch 2008
18= Ashlyn Kilowan SA 483*! 20.16 483 v Eng at Shenley 2008
Sarah Andrews Aus 483*! 21.62 483 v NZ at Lincoln 2008
20 Sophie Devine NZ 468*! 37.42 468 v Aus at Lincoln 2008
All-rounders
Rank Player Team Points HS Rating
1 Lisa Sthalekar Aus 393 466 v Eng at Chennai 2007
2 S.Nitschke Aus 387*/*! 387 v NZ at Lincoln 2008
3 Nicola Browne NZ 357 383 v Eng at Lincoln 2008
4 Aimee Mason NZ 300 338 v Eng at Blackpool 2007
5 Jenny Gunn Eng 280 364 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
