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’ve had no shortage of drama in women’s cricket this year. We’ve even been spoiled with three Tests – the first time in women’s football since 2014.
Nevertheless, it is fair to say that white ball cricket still reigns supreme. So while The Spin places a high value on Test performance (as our readers no doubt do too), this team is once again an XI of all formats…
1) Hayley Matthews (West Indies) After a few lean years, the West Indian captain finally surpassed the innings in the 2016 T20 World Cup final that made her name, hitting 132 off 64 balls against Australia in October to hand the world champions a rare defeat on home soil. In the entire three-match T20 series, she smashed 310 runs with an astonishing strike count 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 inaugural WPL, won EIGHT consecutive Player-of-the-Match awards in T20Is between July and October, and found time to score a hat-trick against Ireland in July. Phew – what a year!
2) Tammy Beaumont (England) Made history at Trent Bridge in June, becoming the first ever England player to score a double century in a women’s Test. It was an innings of supreme patience and skill – but she also knows how to turn things around, as she showed when she hit 118 off 61 balls for Welsh Fire in August, the highest ever score in the Hundred. Bafflingly, she continues to be 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 when her side recorded their first T20 series win against England in September was a sight that warmed the hardest of hearts. England has a rich, professional side; Sri Lanka was effectively abandoned by the administration during Covid and still has to fight for resources. Their victory against England, following a similarly historic win in the ODI series against New Zealand earlier this year, finally delivered some reward for their heroic captain, who continues to lead from the front with bat and ball.
4) Nat Sciver-Brunt (England) “She takes us to the next level.” Three words from England coach Jon Lewis, spoken after Sciver-Brunt hit an astonishing 120 from 74 balls against Sri Lanka in September, neatly summed up her importance to the England set-up. She was their leading run-scorer in the T20 World Cup, hit hundreds of successive hits in the Ashes in July and was the only batswoman to avoid embarrassment in their recent whopping against India in the Test. There is a reason why Mumbai Indians paid £320,000 for her, the highest bid for any foreign player, in February’s WPL auction.
5) Beth Mooney (Australia) Continues to be a run machine. For what felt like the umpteenth time, she was the leading run-scorer in the WBBL, with a total of 557. She also averaged 52 at the World Cup, including hitting crucial half-centuries in the semi-final and final, where she the calm that has become her hallmark. Despite not being Australia’s favorite goalkeeper, she’s also quite handy with the gloves, so we’d happily entrust her with that role in The Spin XI.
6) Ash Gardner (Australia) Took 58 wickets in 2023, across all formats – the most ever by a woman in a calendar year (thanks @_hypocaust for the stat). That included a small tally of twelve wickets in the Ashes Test in June: the best figures ever recorded by an Australian in the women’s Tests, on a pitch that England hilariously thought wouldn’t turn. They were forced to think again after Gardner’s eight for 66 in the fourth innings bowled them over for 178, giving Australia a 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 (joint leading wicket-taker) or the World Cup (more scalps than whoever). A colossal performance in the Ashes Test – she bowled a ridiculous 77.1 overs – saw her achieve match figures of 10 for 192. Had shoulder surgery in September and didn’t quite have the same Midas touch in England’s recent series against India, so fingers crossed she’ll be back to her best in 2024.
8) Deepti Sharma (India) 2023 would be far from a vintage year for the Indian all-rounder. Then – boom – she somehow pulled off a match-winning bowling performance in the one-off Test against England. Five for seven in the course of just 33 balls on the second day, followed by another four in the second innings: England didn’t know what hit them.
9) Pooja Vastrakar (India) Hadn’t played a home Test before this year but now has two under her belt and will be clamoring for more given how perfectly her bowling seems to suit the format. Her nine scalps across both Tests included two of the world’s best hitters, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Ellyse Perry, both bowled by late nip-backers in a masterful display of seam movement. Despite regularly playing at number 9, she is also quite handy with the bat. She ended the year by hitting 62 off 46 balls, helping India reach their highest ODI total against Australia.
10) Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand) She has looked down her nose all year at the New Zealand selectors, who dropped the 33-year-old from their contract list in May 2022 and have eaten their words ever since. Equally productive in both the 50-over and 20-over formats, she was New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker (by far) in 2023 and had climbed to No. 6 in the ICC’s T20 bowling rankings by July. Long may the late career renaissance continue.
11) Nonkululeko Mlaba (South Africa) She may not have the same big name as some of her teammates, but the 23-year-old left-arm spinner has outperformed them all in 2023, taking 27 wickets with remarkable economy figures of 4.05 in ODIs and 5.4 in T20Is. A vital cog in the wheel of South Africa’s triumphant march to their first ever World Cup final, played in front of a record home crowd at Newlands.
Quote of the week
“I am in favor of playing more Test cricket. Maybe that’s something in the future we can think about – important series goes to three Tests” – in an interview with SEN Cricket, Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley gives hope to anyone who would like to see more women’s long-form games in 2024 and beyond.
Memory strip
He didn’t have much fun in England – Stuart Broad made sure of that – but David Warner certainly impressed in the Ashes matches at home. Three series yielded 1,237 runs at an average of 51.54, with two tons in the 2013-14 whitewash, followed by a hundred on Boxing Day at the MCG four years later – Tom Curran thought he had his man for 99, but a no ball gave Warner new life. Cue the barrel and that signature jump to celebrate.
Do you want more?
Phil Walker meets Wes Hall, the glittering spearhead of the first truly great West Indies team.
Emma John imagines an alternate dimension in which Jack Hobbs and WG Grace are both Time Lords.
Steve Waugh urges action from administrators to save Test cricket after South Africa announced a downside to their tour of New Zealand.
And Geoff Lemon kicks off David Warner’s bye week, with the Australian opener opting out of Test cricket at the SCG.
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