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32 Notable Women Cricketers
Cricket has been played by all-women teams since at least 1745, when an inter-village game between Bramley and Hambleton was recorded in England. Despite the early start, over the years, womenâs cricket has lagged behind the menâs game because of a combination of sexism and poor organizational support. The first womenâs One-Day International (ODI) World Cup took place in 1973, a full two years before the first menâs ODI World Cup. But a womenâs team wasnât allowed to play at the Lordâs Cricket Ground, the spiritual home of cricket, until 1976, and women werenât allowed to become members of the Marylebone Cricket Club until 1999. Womenâs cricket has endured despite these challenges, thanks in no small part to the achievements of several stalwarts of the sport. Here is a list of some of the greats.
Australia
Betty Wilson
Often called the female Bradman, a reference to Australian batting legend Don Bradman, Betty Wilson was one of Australiaâs greatest cricketers in an era when womenâs cricket was not very common. A precocious talent, she had to wait until the end of the Second World War to debut for Australia in Test cricket. Famously turning down marriage proposals so she could continue to play for Australia, Wilson took the first hat trick in womenâs cricket and scored three Test hundreds in her career, including one on debut. She was also the first cricket player, male or female, to score a century (100 runs in an innings) and take 10 wickets in a Test match. Since 2007 Cricket Australia has given the Betty Wilson Award to the most promising young womenâs cricketer of the season.
- Full name: Betty Rebecca Wilson
- International career span: 1948â58
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm offbreak bowler
Belinda Clark
Belinda Clark was the first player, male or female, to score a double century in an international cricket game, doing so during the 1997 Womenâs ODI World Cup. She captained Australia to two Womenâs ODI World Cup titles in 1997 and 2005. A consistent batter with an average over 45 in both Tests and ODIs, she later served as chief executive of Womenâs Cricket Australia. Clark holds the record for most career runs for Australia in womenâs ODIs. Since 2013 the most outstanding female Australian cricketer of the season has been honored with the Belinda Clark Award (it was named the Womenâs International Cricketer of the Year award from 2002 to 2012).
- Full name: Belinda Jane Clark
- International career span: 1991â2005
- Playing style: Right-hand batter
Cathryn Fitzpatrick
Cathryn Fitzpatrick was one of the fastest bowlers in womenâs cricket during her career. She played a key role in Australiaâs 1997 and 2005 Womenâs ODI World Cup victories. Her 180 womenâs ODI wickets are an Australian record. Fitzpatrick also coached the Australian womenâs national team from 2012 to 2015.
- Full name: Cathryn Lorraine Fitzpatrick
- International career span: 1991â2007
- Playing style: Right-arm fast bowler
Karen Rolton
Karen Rolton was a consistent top-order batter for the Australian team for more than a decade. Until limited by injuries, she was also a medium-pace bowler who took more than a hundred international wickets. Rolton was Player of the Match in Australiaâs 2005 World Cup win over India, scoring an unbeaten 107 runs; she was also Player of the Series in the tournament. In 2006 Rolton won the inaugural International Cricket Council (ICC) Womenâs Player of the Year award. She holds the Australian record for most career runs in womenâs Tests.
- Full name: Karen Louise Rolton
- International career span: 1995â2009
- Playing style: Left-hand batter, left-arm medium bowler
Lisa Sthalekar
Lisa Sthalekar is an India-born Australian all-rounder who has taken more than 200 international wickets and scored almost 4,000 runs. She won the Belinda Clark Award for Australiaâs outstanding female cricketer of the season in 2007 and 2008 and was Womenâs International Cricketer of the Year in 2007. After retirement, Sthalekar found success as a cricket commentator and analyst.
- Full name: Lisa Carprini Sthalekar
- International career span: 2001â13
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm offbreak bowler
Ellyse Perry
Ellyse Perry is one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of cricket based on sheer numbers: a Test batting average of over 60, a Test bowling average below 22, and womenâs ODI batting and bowling averages of 50 and 25, respectively. In 2007, at age 16, Perry became the youngest Australian to play international cricket. She is also the first Australian to have appeared in cricket as well as football (soccer) World Cups, playing the latter in 2011 in Germany. She has won the ICC Womenâs Player of the Year award (named the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award in 2017) twice, in 2017 and 2019. In 2020 she was named the ICC Female Player of the Decade. Perry is one of the most famous stars in womenâs cricket.
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- Full name: Ellyse Alexandra Perry
- International career span: 2007â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm fast-medium bowler
Alyssa Healy
Alyssa Healy is a wicketkeeper for the Australian womenâs national team. She had a middling batting record until 2017 but has since remodeled herself into a formidable opening batter. In 2018 she was Player of the Tournament in Australiaâs womenâs Twenty20 International (T20I) World Cup win; she was named Womenâs T20I Player of the Year that year. Healy was also Player of the Match when Australia successfully defended its T20I title in the 2020 final. She continued her big-match streak with a Player of the Match performance in the 2022 Womenâs ODI World Cup final, scoring a mammoth 170 runs and earning the Player of the Series award. She was a standout performer for Australia during the ICC Womenâs Cricket World Cup 2025 as well. In 2020 Healy surpassed MS Dhoniâs record for the most wicketkeeping dismissals in T20Is by any keeper, male or female. She is the niece of former Australian menâs wicketkeeper Ian Healy and is married to Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc.
- Full name: Alyssa Jean Healy
- International career span: 2010â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, wicketkeeper
Meg Lanning
Meg Lanning is one of cricketâs most successful captains, a charge she took up at the age of just 21. Between 2018 and 2021 the Australian womenâs team won 24 consecutive ODIs with Lanning as captain, a record streak in both menâs and womenâs cricket. She is also an aggressive and consistent batter, with a womenâs record of 15 international ODI hundreds. She also holds the Australian record for most womenâs T20I career runs. In 2015 Lanning was named the inaugural Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World. She was also named the ICC T20I Womenâs Cricketer of the Year in 2014 and ICC ODI Womenâs Cricketer of the Year in 2015. She made a shocking decision to retire from international cricket at age 31 in 2023.
- Full name: Meghann Moira Lanning
- International career span: 2010â23
- Playing style: Right-hand batter
Alana King
Alana King has emerged as one of the leading leg-spin bowlers in womenâs cricket in 2025. She made her T20I, Test, and ODI debuts, respectively, over the course of a fortnight in 2022. King was the second highest wicket taker among Australian bowlers at the 2022 ODI Womenâs World Cup and helped the team win its seventh title. During the 2025 edition of the tournament she took 7 wickets for 18 runs in a match against South Africa, setting a record for best individual bowling figures in Womenâs ODI World Cup history.
- Full name: Alana Maria King
- International career span: 2022â
- Playing style: Right-arm leg-spin bowler, right-hand batter
England
Rachael Heyhoe Flint
Rachael Heyhoe Flint was a pioneer of womenâs cricket and helped popularize and promote the sport both during and after her career. She played a key role in organizing the first Womenâs ODI World Cup in 1973, two years before the first menâs edition, and led the England womenâs team to victory. She hit the first six in a womenâs Test and held the record for most Test runs at the time of her retirement. Heyhoe Flint also played international hockey for England as a goalkeeper. She was one of the first women to be admitted to the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1999 and in 2004 was the first woman elected to its main committee. In 2010 she became the first woman to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. She was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1972 and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2008 and was named a life peer as Baroness Heyhoe Flint of Wolverhampton in 2011. She coauthored a book titled Fair Play: The Story of Womenâs Cricket, which was published in 1976. She passed away in 2017; the ICC Womenâs Cricketer of the Year award was renamed the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award in her honor that year. Englandâs domestic 50-over womenâs tournament was renamed the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in her honor in 2020, and in 2022 the east gate at Lordâs was renamed the Heyhoe Flint gate.
- International career span: 1960â82
- Playing style: Right-hand batter
Charlotte Edwards
One of the most prolific batters in the history of womenâs cricket, Charlotte Edwards scored more than 10,000 international runs during her career for England. In 1996, at age 16, she became the youngest cricketer at the time to debut for England. She captained England for the last 10 years of her career. She led England to the 2009 Womenâs ODI and T20I World Cup titles and was named ICC Womenâs Player of the Year in 2008. In 2014 she was named one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year, was one of the first 18 women players to be awarded central contracts (a big step forward for the professionalization of womenâs cricket), and was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Since her retirement, she has been a coach and commentator.
- Full name: Charlotte Marie Edwards
- International career span: 1996â2016
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, leg-break bowler
Katherine Sciver-Brunt
Katherine Sciver-Brunt made her debut for England at age 19 and has gone on to take more than 300 international wickets, including 170 in womenâs ODIs, an England record. She has been part of three World Cup-winning England squads and has been named Englandâs Woman Cricketer of the Year a record four times. She was Player of the Final when England won the 2009 womenâs T20I World Cup. She is married to fellow England cricketer Natalie Sciver-Brunt.
- Full name: Katherine Helen Sciver-Brunt
- International career span: 2004â22
- Playing style: Right-arm medium fast bowler
Sarah Taylor
Sarah Taylor has scored more than 6,000 international runs for England but is best known for her wicketkeeping skills, considered among the best across menâs and womenâs cricket. In her youth she was included in Brighton Collegeâs first team in place of a male wicketkeeper and was called to the England womenâs team at age 17. She won the ICC Womenâs T20I Cricketer of the Year award for two years in a row in 2012 and 2013, and the Womenâs ODI Cricketer of the Year award in 2014. After several breaks from the game to deal with anxiety issues, she retired from international cricket in 2019. Taylor was appointed an assistant coach to the menâs team of the English county side Sussex in 2021 and returned to top-level franchise cricket the same year, playing for Welsh Fire in the English tournament the Hundred.
- Full name: Sarah Jane Taylor
- International career span: 2006â19
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, wicketkeeper
Heather Knight
Heather Knight took over as captain of the England womenâs team in 2016 when Charlotte Edwards retired and led the team to victory in the 2017 Womenâs ODI World Cup at home. She was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year that year and was also awarded an OBE. She was the first woman cricketer to score centuries in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. As of 2024 Knight has more than 5,000 runs in international cricket.
- Full name: Heather Clare Knight
- International career span: 2010â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm offbreak bowler
Nat Sciver-Brunt
Nat Sciver-Brunt was born in Tokyo and plays international cricket for England. She has scored more than 6,000 international runs with 10 centuries and taken more than 150 wickets as of 2024. She is credited with inventing the âNatmegâ shot, in which she hits the ball between her legs for runs. In 2013 she became the first England bowler to take a womenâs T20I hat trick. She was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2018 and won the ICC Womenâs Cricketer of the Year award in both 2022 and 2023. She is married to fellow England cricketer Katherine Sciver-Brunt.
- Full name: Natalie Ruth Sciver-Brunt
- International career span: 2013â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm medium bowler
India
Diana Edulji
Diana Edulji played for India at a time when womenâs cricket was still picking up in the country and took more than 100 wickets for the Indian team. Her 63 wickets in womenâs Tests place her third on the all-time list. She was conferred the Arjuna Award, one of Indiaâs highest sporting honors, in 1983 and the Padma Shri, Indiaâs fourth highest civilian honor, in 2002 for services to sports. She has played a key role in growing the womenâs game in India, both as a player and as an administrator. In 2017 she was appointed one of four officials, and the only cricketer, to run the Board of Control for Cricket in India by the Supreme Court of India, until the next round of board elections in 2019. She became the first Indian woman to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2023.
- Full name: Diana Fram Edulji
- International career span: 1976â93
- Playing style: Slow left-arm orthodox bowler
Neetu David
Neetu David was one of Indiaâs key bowlers during her career and had 182 international wickets. She was the first Indian woman to reach 100 womenâs ODI wickets, and her figures of 8 wickets for 53 runs, taken against England in 1995, set the record for the best figures in an individual Test innings in womenâs cricket. In 2020 she was picked to lead the national selection panel for Indian womenâs cricket.
- Full name: Neetu Lawrence David
- International career span: 1995â2008
- Playing style: Slow left-arm orthodox bowler
Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj was the most prolific run scorer in womenâs cricket (10,337 runs across all formats) until she was overtaken by compatriot Smriti Mandhana in August 2026. Raj still holds the record for most runs as well as most 50-plus scores in womenâs ODIs. She started off her career with a century in her womenâs ODI debut, scored a then-record 214 in just her third Test, and never looked back over her long career. Raj has won the Arjuna Award (2003) as well as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (2021), Indiaâs highest sporting honors. In 2015 she was conferred the Padma Shri award. She is also the only Indian captain, male or female, to lead India to two ODI World Cup finals.
- Full name: Mithali Dorai Raj
- International career span: 1999â2022
- Playing style: Right-hand batter
Jhulan Goswami
Jhulan Goswami is considered one of the greatest fast bowlers to play womenâs cricket. She is the leading wicket taker in womenâs ODIs, with 255 dismissals. Goswami also has 44 Test and 56 T20I wickets and has been a handy batter down the order with three half-centuries across formats. Goswami won the ICC Womenâs Player of the Year award in 2007 and the Arjuna Award in 2010. In 2012 the Indian government conferred on her the Padma Shri award. Post-retirement, she has worked with the Mumbai Indians as a bowling coach in the Womenâs Premier League (WPL).
- Full name: Jhulan Nishit Goswami
- International career span: 2002â22
- Playing style: Right-arm fast-medium bowler, right-hand batter
Harmanpreet Kaur
Harmanpreet Kaur debuted for India in 2009 but is best remembered for an unbeaten innings of 171, which helped underdogs India beat Australia to reach the final of the 2017 Womenâs ODI World Cup. The knock made her a household name in India and helped take the popularity of the womenâs game to the next level. She has also scored Indiaâs fastest T20I hundred off only 49 balls. Kaur has more than 7,000 international runs and more than 70 wickets. In 2016 she became the first Indian cricketer to sign a contract with the Australian Big Bash League, playing for Sydney Thunder. In 2017 she was awarded the Arjuna Award. Picked as captain by the Mumbai Indians in the WPL, she led them to victory in the inaugural season of the WPL in 2023 as well as in 2025. She was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year the same year. She has also captained the Indian womenâs national team across formats since 2016 and led the team to win its first ICC Womenâs Cricket World Cup in 2025. In January 2026 she was conferred the Padma Shri, one of Indiaâs highest civilian honors. Harmanpreet stepped down as the national teamâs captain in October 2026.
- Full name: Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar
- International career span: 2009â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm offbreak bowler
Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana is a consistent opening batter for India and has scored more than 7,000 international runs with more than 15 centuries across formats. She holds the Indian womenâs record for scoring the most hundreds in ODIs. She captained her state team, Maharashtra, in 2013 at just age 16 and debuted for India the same year. Mandhana was the costliest buy in the inaugural WPL auction when she was picked by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as captain for 3.4 crore rupees (about $415,000 at the time). She led RCB to victory in the second edition of the WPL in 2024. Mandhana won the ICC Womenâs ODI Player of the Year award in 2018. She has also won the Rachael Hayhoe Flint Award for Best Womenâs Cricketer of the Year twice, in 2018 and 2021. Mandhana was the second-highest run scorer during the ICC Womenâs Cricket World Cup 2025 and helped India lift the trophy for the first time in the tournamentâs history. She also holds the record for scoring the most runs in ODIs in a calendar year among woman cricket players. In August 2026 she became the leading run scorer in womenâs international cricket, overtaking compatriot Mithali Raj. In October 2026 she was chosen as the Indian national womenâs team captain across all formats, succeeding Harmanpreet Kaur.
- Full name: Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana
- International career span: 2013â
- Playing style: Left-hand batter
New Zealand
Debbie Hockley
Debbie Hockley is a former New Zealand cricketer who, over the course of a 21-year international career, became the first woman to play 100 ODIs and to score more than 4,000 runs in the format. Her Test career was equally impressive, with four Test hundreds and a career average of more than 50. Hockley was part of the New Zealand team that reached the finals of three Womenâs ODI World Cups in a row. The team lost the final in 1993 and 1997 but Hockley was named Player of the Match in the latter. The team was third-time lucky when it beat Australia in the 2000 Womenâs ODI World Cup final. In 2016 Hockley was named New Zealand Cricketâs first female president in its 122-year history. In 2023 New Zealand Cricket introduced the Debbie Hockley Medal for the yearâs outstanding woman cricketer.
- Full name: Deborah Ann Hockley
- International career span: 1979â2000
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm medium bowler
Suzie Bates
Suzie Bates is one of New Zealandâs most influential cricket all-rounders. She made her debut for the White Ferns in 2006 against India and scored her first ODI century against the same team a year later. She captained New Zealand from 2011 to 2018. Bates also represented New Zealand in basketball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was named the ICC Womenâs ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2013 and 2016. She also won the 2015 Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World award. Bates is the leading run scorer in womenâs T20Is and the winner of the 2016 T20I Cricketer of the Year award.
- Full name: Suzannah Wilson Bates
- International career span: 2006â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm medium bowler
Amelia Kerr
Amelia Kerr is a third-generation New Zealand cricketer who emerged on the international scene with a bang. At age 16 she was the youngest to earn a New Zealand Cricket contract and to debut for the national team in 2017. The next year, at 17, she became the youngest cricketer, man or woman, to score an international double century. During that innings, she beat the womenâs ODI record held by Belinda Clark on her way to an unbeaten 232. Not content with scoring a double, she also took 5 wickets while bowling in one of the all-time great all-round displays. Kerr has since been a consistent performer for New Zealand and in 2024 was named both the Player of the Final and the Player of the Tournament as New Zealand won the womenâs T20I World Cup.
- Full name: Amelia Charlotte Kerr
- International career span: 2016â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, leg-break bowler
Pakistan
Sana Mir
Beginning her international career in 2005, Mir captained Pakistan from 2009 to 2017 and led the team to two Asian Games gold medals in 2010 and 2014. The off-spin bowler became the first Pakistani woman to take 100 ODI wickets. In 2018 she became the first Pakistani woman cricket player to reach number one in the ICC ODI bowler rankings. Mir has been honored globally for her leadership and contribution to womenâs cricket, as she is an active promoter of gender equality in sports. For her efforts both on and off the field, she was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2025.
- International career span: 2005â2020
- Playing style: Right-arm offbreak bowler, right-hand batter
Sidra Amin
Sidra Amin made her debut for the Pakistan womenâs cricket team in 2011. She scored three centuries in 2022, becoming the first Pakistani woman cricketer to score more than one ODI hundred in a single calendar year. She has also scored more hundreds in womenâs ODIs than the rest of Pakistanâs woman centurions combined. Her unbeaten 176 in an ODI against Ireland in 2022 is a record individual high score among Pakistani women batters.
- International career span: 2011â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm medium bowler
South Africa
Shabnim Ismail
Shabnim Ismail is a South African pace bowler who has earned a reputation as one of the fastest bowlers in womenâs cricket across the world. As of 2024 she is the second highest wicket taker in womenâs ODIs after Jhulan Goswami and the highest for South Africa in womenâs ODIs and womenâs T20Is. Having retired from international cricket in 2023, Ismail continues to be a regular in womenâs franchise cricket leagues across the world.
- International career span: 2007â23
- Playing style: Right-arm fast-medium bowler
Laura Wolvaardt
Laura Wolvaardt made her debut for South Africa as an opening batter at age 16, and by age 25 she became her countryâs record holder for most ODI runs, most ODI hundreds, and most T20I runs in womenâs cricket. Along the way, she became the youngest centurion, male or female, for South Africa in international cricket. In 2024 she became only the third woman to score a hundred in all three formats of international cricket, achieving the feat in a Test vs. India. In 2024 she was named captain of the South Africa T20I team for the World Cup and captained her side to the final where it lost to New Zealand. She was the leading run scorer in the ICC Womenâs Cricket World Cup 2025.
- International career span: 2016â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter
Sri Lanka
Chamari Athapaththu
Chamari Athapaththu is the greatest cricketer from Sri Lanka to have played womenâs cricket. Debuting as a 19-year-old, she was soon noted for her aggressive batting. She became captain of the Sri Lanka national team and has helped a not-so-strong team challenge much more formidable opponents on the global stage. In 2024 she led Sri Lanka to an underdog win in the Womenâs T20I Asia Cup and finished as Player of the Tournament. She has led Sri Lanka to its first-ever series wins over South Africa and England in T20Is and over New Zealand in ODIs. She holds the record for most runs for Sri Lanka in womenâs ODIs and T20Is, and her nine womenâs ODI hundreds are a Sri Lankan record as well. In April 2024 her unbeaten 195 helped Sri Lanka complete the first-ever successful chase of more than 300 runs in a womenâs ODI. In 2023 a seating zone at the Sydney Cricket Ground was named âChamari Bayâ in her honor.
- Full name: Athapaththu Mudiyanselage Chamari Jayangani Kumai Athapaththu
- International career span: 2009â
- Playing style: Left-hand batter, right-arm offbreak bowler
West Indies
Deandra Dottin
Deandra Dottin is a Barbadian all-rounder who plays for the West Indies womenâs cricket team. She is known for her explosive batting and in 2010 scored the first century in womenâs T20I cricket, reaching the mark off a mere 38 balls, a world record yet to be broken. Dottin played a key role in West Indiesâ victory in the womenâs T20I World Cup in 2016. Dottin has scored more than 6,000 international runs and taken more than 140 wickets. In 2022 she retired from the international game to focus on franchise cricket but made a comeback in 2024 before the womenâs T20I World Cup that year.
- Full name: Deandra Jalisa Shakira Dottin
- International career span: 2008â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm fast-medium bowler
Stafanie Taylor
Stafanie Taylor is a Jamaican cricketer who led the West Indies womenâs cricket team for seven years, including to a womenâs T20I World Cup title in 2016, where she finished as top run scorer and was named Player of the Tournament. Taylor arrived on the scene with 90 runs in just 49 balls on her womenâs T20I debut and has gone on to become the West Indiesâ top run scorer in both ODIs and T20Is, with more than 9,000 international runs across formats; she also has more than 250 international wickets. Taylor was named ICC Womenâs Cricketer of the Year in 2011. In 2013 she became the only player in history, male or female, to ever achieve the number one ODI ranking in both batting and bowling simultaneously.
- Full name: Stafanie Roxann Taylor
- International career span: 2008â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm offbreak bowler
Hayley Matthews
Hayley Matthews is a cricketer from Barbados who plays for the West Indies womenâs cricket team and became the teamâs captain in 2022. Matthews is an all-rounder who has more than 4,000 runs in womenâs ODIs and T20Is, as well as more than 100 wickets in each format. A natural athlete, she played both track and field and cricket in her youth, before focusing on cricket and making her debut for the West Indies. Her crowning glory was a Player of the Match performance in the womenâs T20I World Cup final in 2016, as the West Indies beat favorites Australia to win its first title. Matthews is a highly sought-after player in franchise leagues across the world and was Player of the Tournament in the first edition of the WPL in 2023, when she helped her team, Mumbai Indians, win the title.
- Full name: Hayley Kristen Matthews
- International career span: 2014â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm offbreak bowler