|
With the BBL about to start (I refuse to call it WBBL until that other
tournament is known as the MBBL) then the stats wallers have been sharpening
their pencils - or more like clicking their keyboards to give us some
background before the party kicks off. I found the exchange below quite
interesting.
At first you might expect that the number of 50+ scores any one nation's
players had contributed previously could perhaps be in proportion to the
number of representatives they had in the tournament. However that can't be
right, obviously, for Australia. All the other nations represented have
provided the cream of their batting crop whereas Australia have to play a
large number of non-internationals, in the same manner that England must do
in the KSL.
So is the fact the home team have provided over 60% of the total mean they
have a higher number than you might expect? I've no
idea frankly but I find the numbers intriguing. Also have the Sri Lankans
punched above their weight? You judge...
You can check the
squads here although at least
one late change has been announced.
ODI Team of the Year
|
T20 Team of the Year
|
Tammy
Beaumont
|
Beth Mooney
|
Meg Lanning
|
Danni Wyatt
|
Mithali Raj
|
Harmanpreet Kaur
|
Amy Satterthwaite
|
Stafanie Taylor
|
Ellyse Perry
|
Sophie Devine
|
Heather Knight
|
Deandra Dottin
|
Sarah Taylor (wk)
|
Hayley Matthews
|
Dane van Niekerk
|
Megan Schutt
|
Marizanne Kapp
|
Amanda Wellington
|
Ekta Bisht
|
Leah Tahuhu
|
Alex Hartley
|
Ekta Bisht
|
Note: Ekta Bisht
the only player to feature in both teams!
ICC Awards
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Cricketer
of the Year: Ellyse Perry (Australia)
ICC ODI Player of the Year: Amy
Satterthwaite (New Zealand)
ICC T20I Player of the Year: Beth
Mooney (Australia)
ICC Emerging Player of the Year: Beth
Mooney (Australia)
Comment
There is absolutely no doubt that whoever you ask
about these selections they are going to come up with something
different here or there - a different batsman or fast bowler maybe...
When at school I was often told that cricket was a
sport for tall people. 'Look at all those fast bowlers' they said,
'and what about the Ted Dexters of this world'? Hence my heroes tended
to be among the shorter in stature, and although I thoroughly enjoyed
watching 'Lord Ted' play many a time at Hove and on the TV, I'd
follow the scorecards of other games avidly wondering how the
relatively diminutive Sunil Gavascar was doing, for instance, someone
my father pointed out to me was about my height. I am thus a little
smug that the only player to finish in both teams above is, I expect,
the shortest of the other 20. Bisht well deserved her place and I
would have included another relatively short player in both teams too,
but my selections remain my own. No doubt all the others had a fine
year so it would be churlish to gainsay their moment in the sun.
![[Ekta Bisht] © Don Miles](images/120708_510-Bisht-Ekta-Ind.jpg "[Ekta Bisht] © Don Miles")
Ekta Bisht
These choices inevitably leave out some players who
have played outstanding innings and I feel an honourable mention must
be made of the remarkable 178* (143 balls) including 22 x 4s and 6 x
6s, made by Chamari Jayangani taking on Australia in the World Cup,
against what must be the world's best bowling attack.
Also in my list of 'must mentions' is Danni Wyatt's
century against the same foe in the 3rd T20 of the Ashes series.
I have 'blogged'
on this a couple of pages back, but watching what I could on the TV
and highlights packages, I watched the very best of no-fear cricket.
It's been a tough year for me, when ill health has
kept me away from the boundary for all but a few matches at the end.
It was a cruel time for it to strike with the World Cup in my home
country, so thank heaven for the TV and a chance to watch at least a
proportion of what otherwise I would have been able to photograph. And
I must add my thanks to Martin and Mandy Davies of "Women's Cricket
Blog" (currently off-air) for acting as chauffer so that I could catch
a number of matches live including that exciting semi-final at Bristol
between England and South Africa.
I hope to be in better shape in 2018 to watch what
little remains of the County Championship, also the KSL, two international
series and hopefully some club and age-group county cricket too.
Meantime my thanks to my readers and for the
emails and tweets about this site.
Merry Christmas to Everyone!
|