Can you name some of the best bowlers in the history of Cricket? If you are a cricket fan, then indeed, you’ll have your list. However, there’s a high chance that these players are male.
A lot of people are aware of Women’s Cricket. Maybe you’ve even watched a few games. But few remember the name of the players.
Women’s Cricket is slowly gaining more eyeballs. For example, over eighty thousand fans attended the Women’s T20 World Cup final.
If you’ve just started watching Women’s Cricket and want to know about the best female bowler of all time, then you’re in the right place. However, if you stumbled upon this list accidentally, then now’s a great time to start.
12 Best Female Bowler of All Time in Cricket
The list is prepared after looking at the bowler’s wickets, bowling average, average runs, etc. The stats of the players are taken from Espncricinfo.
| S.N. | Name | Wickets (Total 3 Formats) |
| 12 | Dane Van Niekerk | 204 |
| 11 | Ellyse Perry | 300 |
| 10 | Nosheen Al Khadeer | 114 |
| 9 | Isha Guha | 148 |
| 8 | Clare Taylor | 141 |
| 7 | Stafanie Taylor | 243 |
| 6 | Jenny Gunn | 240 |
| 5 | Anisa Mohammed | 271 |
| 4 | Neetu David | 182 |
| 3 | Lisa Sthalekar | 229 |
| 2 | Jhulan Goswami | 340 |
| 1 | Cathryn Fitzpatrick | 240 |
12. Dane Van Niekerk
South Africa is primarily known for fast bowlers. So, it’s pretty surprising that one of the best South African bowlers of all is a leg spinner.
Dane Van Niekerk is the first female bowler to take 100 wickets in One-day internationals. Apart from that, she is also the captain of the South African team in all formats.
Dane Van Niekerk has an incredible record in ODIs and T20Is. However, she has played only a single test.
In the ODIs, she has a bowling average of 19.14. Her best bowling stat is 5 for 17. Even male bowlers struggle to achieve such stats.
Her records in ODIs and T20Is show that she is one of the best female bowlers of all time.
11. Ellyse Perry
Australia has struggled to find an all-rounder in male Cricket for a long time. However, female Cricket has perhaps the best all-rounder of all time.
One of the best female bowlers of all time, Ellyse Perry, started her career in 2007. Since then, she has played 152 Tests, 109 ODIs, and 21 T20Is.
Ellyse Perry is known for her high strike rate and fast-paced bowling. She is an incredible batter as well as a bowler.
In ODIs, she has 152 wickets with a bowling average of 25.17. Of course, her bowling average ranks higher on this list. But, her batting average of 50.56 with more than 3,000 runs compensates for it.
Her record is incredible in T20Is, with 115 wickets and a bowling average of 19.45. Additionally, she has more than 1,000 runs in T20Is.
Read more about the 12 Best Female Cricket Players in the World.
10. Nosheen Al Khadeer
Indian Women’s cricket team has come a long way. But, the facilities for women’s Cricket were almost non-existent.
Apart from that, the players also got a few match opportunities. To make matters worse, there were no proper domestic tournaments.
Nosheen Al Khadeer overcame all that, mostly on her own. She made her debut in ODI in 2002 against England.
Nosheen played only five tests. However, she was a fantastic bowler in the ODI. Over 78 matches, she took 100 wickets. In 2003, she was ranked as the number-one bowler globally.
In her career, she had a bowling average of 24.02. Her best bowling figure in ODI was 5 wickets for 14 runs.
9. Isha Guha
England is known as the home of Cricket. So, it was natural that England would produce the best-female bowler of all time.
Isha Guha, a child of immigrant parents, played in England from 2001 to 2011. She played as a right-arm medium-paced bowler.
Over her career, she played 137 Test matches and 94 ODIs. Isha has one of the best bowling averages in the Tests.
Even though she played just eight tests, she has an incredible average of 18.93. Similarly, in ODIs, she took 101 wickets in 83 matches.
She was also part of the World Cup-winning team in 2009. Isha has called it the most joyous moment of her career.
8. Clare Taylor
Few athletes are as ridiculously talented as Clare Taylor. She played in both cricket and football teams.
Incredibly, she played in the football as well as Cricket World Cups also. Clare maintained both her careers parallelly.
She made her debut in 1988. Clare took 25 wickets in 16 Test matches. In tests, she has an average of 40.44.
In 1993, she played in both Women’s National League Cup final as well as in the Cricket World Cup final. Unfortunately, she lost in the football finals but won the cricket world cup.
Similarly, in the ODIs, she took 102 wickets with an average of 23.95. Apart from that, Clare also took 294 wickets in her domestic career.
Read more about the 13 Most ODI Wicket Takers in Cricket.
7. Stafanie Taylor
In the 70s and 80s, West Indies’ fast bowlers were dominant in the game. Therefore, it’s fair to say that West Indies produces some great bowlers.
Now, the best female bowler of all time is also from West Indies. Stafanie Taylor is a great off-break bowler.
Stefanie is currently playing for a national team. She made her debut in 2008.
Since then, she has picked 145 wickets over 130 matches. Similarly, she has an incredible average of 21.47.
Her record in T20I is also incredible. Moreover, Stefanie currently has 98 wickets, nearing her 100th wicket in T20Is.
Her average in T20Is is also incredible. She has an excellent bowling average of 16.72.
Stafanie won the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2011. Similarly, she was also ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2012 and T20I Cricketer of the Year in 2015.
6. Jenny Gunn
Over recent years, the number of slow seam bowlers has decreased. Batters target the slow seam bowlers to hit more runs.
Therefore, Jenny Gunn’s record is even more incredible. Because of her slow pace, she has a relatively higher bowling average in ODIs.
In ODIs, she took 136 wickets with an average of 28.10. Her best bowling figure is 5 wickets for 22 runs.
Interestingly, her slow pace has helped her in the T20s. Hence, she has 75 wickets with a bowling average of 19.82.
The pace dip helps her take more wickets, particularly toward the powerplay. Jenny is still active in the T20 leagues and currently plays for the Northern Diamonds.
5. Anisa Mohammed
There are very few players who make their debut at an early age. Anisa Mohammed made her debut at the age of 15 years.
International Cricket is very hard, and a lot of players succumb to the pressure. Despite being a young player, she didn’t succumb to the pressure.
Anisa is the first West Indian bowler to take 100 wickets in the ODIs. Later, she became the first female bowler from her country to take a hat-trick in T20I.
In the ODIs, she has 151 wickets with a bowling average of 20.51. Anisa has taken 5 wickets in an innings. Similarly, she has 120 wickets in T20Is with an average of 17.30.
The Trinidadian cricketer has won the Women’s Cricket of Trinidad and Tobago three times in 2003, 2008, and 2010.
4. Neetu David
India is famous for spinners. The spinner-friendly pitches have produced top-quality spinners.
Neetu David is one of the best female bowlers of all time. The left-arm spinner made her debut in 1995 against New Zealand.
The first Indian female bowler to take 100 ODI wickets took a total of 141 wickets in her career. She has an incredible bowling average of 16.34.
Neetu David was a very economical bowler. The duo of Neetu and Nosheen troubled a lot of batters.
Her record in Tests is also incredible. She played 10 test matches and took 41 wickets.
Neetu has the best bowling figure in an innings of a test match. In 1995, she sent 8 batters back to the pavilion for just 53 runs.
Also, read about Bob Willis Bio: Cricketer, Fast Bowler & Cause of Death.
3. Lisa Sthalekar
Australia has dominated world cricket for a long time. They have won the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup six times.
So, it’s natural that they also produce the best female bowler of all time. Lisa Sthalekar is one of the all-time greatest Australian players.
The right-handed all-rounder could bat as well as bowl. She bowled off-spin.
Lisa made her debut in 2001 and retired in 2013. Over her decade-long career, she smashed more than 3,000 runs and 200 wickets combined.
In test cricket, she took 23 wickets while scoring 316 runs in 8 matches. She was a white-ball specialist.
In ODIs, she took more than 146 wickets with a bowling average of 24.97. Additionally, she made more than 2,700 runs in ODIs.
Similarly, in T20Is, she took 60 wickets with a bowling average of 19.35.
2. Jhulan Goswami
The highest wicket-taker of all time in Women’s ODI cricket is Jhulan Goswami. Therefore, it’s not an exaggeration to call her one of the greatest female bowlers of all time.
Jhulan made her debut in 2002 and played her last game in 2021 September. Her career is an inspiration to a lot of female cricketers around the globe.
In ODIs, she took 240 wickets with a bowling average of 21.59. Her outswinger delivery to Meg Lanning in the Women’s ODI World Cup 2019 was cited as the best delivery of the tournament.
Jhulan often intimidated batters with her speed. Similarly, in T20Is, she took 56 wickets in 68 games with a bowling average of 21.94.
Jhulan won the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2007. Apart from that, she also won the Arjuna award in 2010.
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1. Cathryn Fitzpatrick
Cathryn Fitzpatrick is considered one of the fastest female bowlers of all time. Her average bowling speed was 125 km/hr.
Apart from that, she is also the first female bowler to take 100 wickets in ODIs. She is considered the best Australian player of all time.
In ODIs, she took 180 wickets with an average of 16.79. Her speed and ball swing were crucial factors in her bowling.
With the lethal combination of swing and speed, she knocked off the bails of many batters. In tests, she took 60 wickets with an average of 19.11.
Even though she was a great cricketer, she worked as a waste collector and postwoman. Her journey is also an inspiration to a lot of female cricketers.
Conclusion
Who’s your favorite female bowler? Please tell us in the comment section.
