by With the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February, the first Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India, and the biggest ever Women’s Ashes series, we have not been short of drama in women’s cricket this year. We have even been spoiled by three Tests – the first time that has happened in the women’s game since 2014.
However, it is fair to say that white ball cricket still dominates. So, while The Spin puts a lot of weight on Test performances (as we’re sure our readers do too), this team is once again an all-format XI…
1) Hayley Matthews (West Indies) After a few consecutive years, the West Indies captain finally surpassed the innings in the 2016 T20 World Cup final that made her name, smashing 132 off 64 balls against Australia in October to hand the champions a rare victory deep at home. In the three-match T20 series overall, she scored 310 runs at an impressive strike rate of 174, including 79 in the final match despite a quad injury that left her barely able to walk, let alone run. She was also Player of the Tournament at the WPL debut, won EIGHT Player of the Match awards in a row in T20Is between July and October, and found time to take a hat-trick against Ireland in July. Phew – what a year!
2) Tammy Beaumont (England) History was made at Trent Bridge in June, when he became the first English player ever to achieve double decades in a Women’s Test. It was an innings of supreme patience and skill – but she also knows how to dial things up, as she showed when she smashed 118 off 61 balls for Welsh Fire in August, the highest ever in the Cents. Unfortunately, she is always left out of England’s T20 side – perhaps the selectors will come to their senses in 2024.
3) Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka) The smile on Athapaththu’s face was a sight to behold when her team triumphed in the T20 series against England in September to warm up the toughest crowd. England are a rich, professional side; The board basically abandoned Sri Lanka during Covid, and they still have to fight for resources. Their win against England, following a similarly historic ODI victory against New Zealand earlier in the year, finally rewarded their heroic captain, who continues to lead from the front with bat and ball.
4) Nat Sciver-Brunt (England) “She lifts us up.” Three words from England coach Jon Lewis, spoken after Sciver-Brunt’s stunning 120 off 74 balls against Sri Lanka in September, neatly summed up her importance to the England team. She was the current leading run-scorer in the T20 World Cup, hit back-to-back hundreds in the Ashes in July, and was the only batsman to avoid embarrassment as she interfered India’s hands recently in the Test. There’s a reason Mumbai Indians paid £320,000 for her, the joint-highest bid for any overseas player, in February’s WPL auction.
5) Beth Mooney (Australia) It is always a running machine. For the zillionth time, she was the current leading run-scorer in the WBBL, with a score of 557. She also averaged 52 in the World Cup, including crucial half-centuries in the semi-final and final, at give up the tranquility that is now her hallmark. Despite not being Australia’s choice of keeper, she is also very handy with the gloves, so we are happy to trust her in that role in The Spin XI.
6) Ash Gardner (Australia) He took 58 wickets in 2023, across all formats – the most by a woman in a calendar year (thanks to @_hypocaust for the stat). That included the small matter of 12 wickets in the Ashes Test in June: the best figures ever recorded by an Australian in Women’s Tests, on a pitch England brilliantly thought would not take spin. They were forced to think again after Gardner’s eight for 66 in the fourth innings rolled them over for 178, giving Australia their first Test win since 2015.
7) Sophie Ecclestone (England) Clearly the best bowler in the world by any measure, be it the ICC rankings (no. 1 in ODIs and T20s), the inaugural WPL (leading wicket-taker) or the World Cup (more wickets than anyone else). . With a huge effort in the Ashes Test – she bowled a ridiculous 77.1 overs – she picked up playing figures of 10 for 192. She underwent shoulder surgery in September and did not have the same Midas touch in the recent England series against India, so mayor cross she will be back at her best in 2024.
8) Deepti Sharma (India) 2023 was set to be a far from vintage year for the Indian tournament. Then – wham – she pulled a match-winning bowling performance out of the bag in the one-off Test against England. Five off seven in the course of 33 balls on the second day, and another four in the second over: England didn’t know what hit them.
9) Pooja Vastrakar (India) She had not played a domestic Test before this year, but now has two under her belt and will be crying out for more, given how perfectly suited her bowling is to the format. His nine wickets across the two Tests included two of the world’s best batsmen, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Ellyse Perry, both bowled by late nip-backers in a masterful display of seam movement. Despite the fact that she often comes in at No. 9, she is also very handy with the bat, ending the year by hitting 62 not out off 46 balls, taking India to their highest ODI total against Australia.
10) Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand) She spent the year thumbing her nose at the New Zealand selectors, who dropped the 33-year-old from their contract list in May 2022 and have been eating their words ever since. Equally prolific in both the 50-over and 20-over formats, she was New Zealand’s (by far) leading wicket-taker in 2023, and by July had worked her way up to No. 6 in the ICC T20 bowling rankings. Long live the late career revival.
11) Nonkululeko Mlaba (South Africa) Some of his teammates may not have the same appeal, but the 23-year-old left-arm spinner outperformed them all in 2023, taking 27 wickets with impressive economy rates of 4.05 in ODIs and 5.4 in T20Is. A vital cog in the wheel in South Africa’s triumphant march to their first ever World Cup final, in front of the biggest ever home crowd at Newlands.
