19 Greatest Female Batsmen

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19 Greatest Female Batsmen!! Cricket is a men’s sport that dates back to 16th century England. But now, it is massively popular among females and played as well. 

The first women’s cricket was recorded to be played in 1745. From then to now, women’s cricket has evolved by leaps and bounds. 

At present, female cricketers are on par with their male counterparts. The only difference between men and female cricket is that the boundaries are shorter, and the balls are lighter.

Women’s cricket, however, is still evolving. The first edition of ICC Women’s U19 T20 World Cup is set to begin in South Africa from 14th to 29th January 2023. 

Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana, One Of The Greatest Batsmen  (Source: Instagram)

This article will discuss some of the greatest female batsmen the sport has ever seen.

These female batsmen have proved their ability in all forms of cricket: T20Is, ODIs, and Test cricket.

Let us look at these 19 greatest female batsmen and learn a little about them!

Quick Overview

Before the details, here is a sneak peek at our comprehensive list in the table below.

Player’s Name Country
19. Anya Shrubsole England
18. Harmanpreet Kaur India
17. Amy Satterthwaite New Zealand
16. Smriti Mandhana India
15. Marizanne Kapp South Africa
14. Ellyse Perry Australia
13. Anjum Chopra India
12. Stafanie Taylor Jamaica
11. Denise Annetts Australia
10. Claire Taylor England
9. Karen Rolton Australia
8. Suzie Bates New Zealand
7. Carole Hodges England
6. Debbie Hockley New Zealand
5. Janette Brittin England
4. Charlotte Edwards England
3. Belinda Clark  Australia
2. Sarah Taylor England
1. Mithali Raj India

19 Greatest Female Batsmen

We have compiled our list with the help of internet sites like The Guardian.

19. Anya Shrubsole

Starting our list of the greatest female batsmen of all time, we have 32 year-old Anya Shrubsole.

She is a professional cricketer who plays in domestic teams Berkshire, Southern Vipers, and the Southern Brave.

Anya Shrubsole
Anya Shrubsole (Source: Sky Sports)

Shrubsole made her first-team debut at age 12. Similarly, she made her national side debut in 2008 when she became Player of the Match.

She was the first woman to appear on the Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack cover in 2018.

18. Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanpreet Kaur is a 35 year-old Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian Women’s National Cricket Team in all formats.

She is a great batsman and plays as an all-rounder for the national team.

Harmanpreet Kaur
Harmanpreet Kaur (Source: Instagram)

In November 2018, Kaur scored a century in a Women’s T20I match and became the first Indian female cricketer to achieve the feat.

Similarly, in October of the following year, she became the first Indian cricket player to play in 100 T20I tournaments.

17. Amy Satterthwaite

37 year-old Amy Satterthwaite is 17th on our list of the greatest female batsmen.

She is a former vice-captain of New Zealand’s women’s national cricket team and currently plays domestic cricket for Canterbury Magicians.

Amy Satterthwaite
Amy Satterthwaite (Source: ICC Cricket)

In 2017, Satterthwaite was the first cricketer to score four consecutive hundreds in WODI. Similarly, she won the Player of the Year award inaugural ICC Women’s ODI.

16. Smriti Mandhana

Smriti Mandhana is a professional cricketer from India.

The 27 year-old started playing cricket at age nine and was part of Maharashtra’s U-15 squad.

Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana (Source: Instagram)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named her the 2018 Best Women’s International Cricketer.

Similarly, Mandhana was awarded the 2022 Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.

15. Marizanne Kapp

34 year-old Marizanne Kapp is an international cricket player who plays for the South Africa national women’s cricket team.

She was the first South African to take a hat trick in a Women’s T20I match.

Marizanne Kapp
Marizanne Kapp (Source: Instagram)

In 2018, Kapp was part of the national squad for the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20 tournament. In the tournament, she was the leading run-scorer for South Africa.

14. Ellyse Perry

Ellyse Perry is the youngest Australian cricketer to play international cricket.

Now 33 year old, she is also widely considered one of the greatest female players ever.

Perry is an all-rounder and holds the record for the highest score by an Australian woman in Test matches.

Ellyse Perry
Ellyse Perry (Source: CricGram)

Similarly, she has won several awards, like Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award and the Belinda Clark Award.

Perry was named among the Wisden Five Cricketers of the Decade: 2010–19.

13. Anjum Chopra

Former Indian cricketer Anjum Chopra is number 13 on our list of the greatest female batsmen.

She started playing cricket at age nine and played in both ODI and Test cricket for India’s national women’s cricket team.

Anjum Chopra
Anjum Chopra (Source: Instagram)

Now 46 year-old, Chopra played in 127 ODIs and 18 T20Is.

Similarly, she was the first Indian female cricketer to score 1,000 runs in ODIs. She is a well-recognized face in Indian cricket.

12. Stafanie Taylor

Stafanie Taylor is a former West Indies women’s cricket team captain.

The 32 year-old Jamaican cricketer broke into the West Indies team at age 17 in 2008.

Stafanie Taylor
Stafanie Taylor (Source: Instagram)

Taylor was the first female cricketer selected as the 2011 ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year from West Indies.

Similarly, she was the first woman to score 1,000 runs in ODIs in her country.

In 2020, Taylor became the second cricketer to score 3,000 runs in WT20I cricket.

11. Denise Annetts

On number 11 of the greatest female batsmen, we have former Australian cricketer Denise Annetts.

She played domestic cricket with New South Wales Breakers, and her international career spanned from 1985 until 1993.

Denise Annetts
Denise Annetts (Source: Twitter)

Annetts made 1126 ODI runs in 43 international limited-over matches during her career.

She recorded a batting average of 41.70, with the highest international one-day match score of 100.

10. Claire Taylor

48 year-old Claire Taylor is a former cricketer who earned a reputation as a top-order batsman.

She also played for the national team more than 150 times between 1998 and 2011.

Claire Taylor
Claire Taylor (Source: Twitter)

In 2006, Taylor scored 156 not out, which is the highest individual total in ODI to be scored at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Similarly, she was named the first woman to be called a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.

Taylor was enshrined in the ICC Hall of Fame in July 2018.

9. Karen Rolton

Karen Rolton is number 9 of the greatest female batsmen.

The 49 year-old is a former cricketer and captain for the Australian national women’s team. 

Karen Rolton
Karen Rolton (Source: Cricket Australia)

In 2006, Rolton was the ICC’s inaugural Female Player of the Year.

In her captaincy, the national team won two world cups. She averaged 47 in her career with nearly 6000 international runs.

8. Suzie Bates

Suzie Bates is a 36 year-old cricketer and the former captain of New Zealand’s national women’s cricket team.

Bates plays domestic cricket for the Otago Sparks and White Ferns.

Suzie Bates
Suzie Bates (Source: Twitter)

Bates holds the record for the highest score and highest batting average in Kiwi’s women’s T20 cricket team. She recorded an average above 40 in ODIs with 3214 runs. 

Bates won the ICC Women’s ODI and T20I Cricketer of the Year 2015. She previously won the Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2013.

7. Carole Hodges

On number 7 of the greatest female batsmen, we have Carole Hodges. She is a former English cricketer who played domestic cricket for Lancashire and Cheshire.

Carole Hodges
Carole Hodges (Source: Twitter)

Between 1982 and 1993, Hodges appeared in 18 Test matches and scored 1164 runs with a batting average of 40.13.

Likewise, she played 47 ODIs and was the first cricketer to take a WODI hat trick in England’s first game.

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6. Debbie Hockley

Debbie Hockley is a former cricketer and captained New Zealand’s national women’s team in six international test matches.

Her score of 4000 ODI runs and 100 ODIs is the first among female cricketers.

Debbie Hockley
Debbie Hockley (Source: Crictracker.com)

During her captaincy, the kiwi team never lost a test series. She averaged 52 in Tests and 41 in ODIs.

Hockley was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2013. She was the first woman to become the New Zealand Cricket president. 

5. Janette Brittin

On number 5 of the greatest female batsmen, we have a former English cricketer, Janette Brittin. Born on July 4, 1959, she played domestic cricket for Sussex and Surrey.

Janette Brittin
Janette Brittin (Source: The Telegraph)

Brittin is one of England’s most successful female batsmen. She recorded 1,935 runs and five Test centuries in her Test match career.

Additionally, she was the first English woman to score 1,000 runs in ODI.

Unfortunately, the legendary female cricketer passed away at age 58 from Cancer. Brittin was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in November 2021 posthumously.

4. Charlotte Edwards

44 year-old Charlotte Edwards is a former English cricketer and captain.

She was the youngest English cricketer on her debut, and before age 18, she broke a world scoring record.

Charlotte Edwards
Charlotte Edwards (Source: Metro UK)

Edwards won several accolades during her career, including ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year, ECB Cricketer of the Year awards, and Wisden Cricketer of the Year.

As a homage to her contribution to sport, the new English domestic women’s T20 competition was named after her in 2021 as the Charlotte Edwards Cup.

3. Belinda Clark

Belinda Clark takes our number 3 spot for the greatest female batsman.

She is a former Australian international cricketer and was captain of the national women’s team for eleven years.

Belinda Clark
Belinda Clark (Source: ESPNcricinfo)

Clark was the first female cricketer to record a double century in the ODI. Similarly, she scored the most runs, 4,844, averaging 47.49 in ODIs.

Clark is considered a pioneer in women’s cricket. She was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame for her contribution in 2011. 

2. Sarah Taylor

On number 2 of the greatest female batsmen, we have 34 year-old Sarah Taylor. She is the fastest woman to record 1000 ODIs.

Sarah Taylor
Sarah Taylor (Source: Instagram)

Taylor is considered the best female batsman in cricket, with over 6000 runs in international cricket.

Similarly, she is the fastest cricketer to earn the first cap in all three formats of international cricket.

1. Mithali Raj

The greatest female batsman title is 41 year-old Indian cricketer and former captain of the India women’s national cricket team.

Mithai Raj is considered one of the greatest cricketers of all time.

Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj (Source: Instagram)

Raj has the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket.

Additionally, she is the only female cricketer to surpass the 7,000 run mark in a women’s ODI match and holds the record for most half-centuries in WODIs.

Raj is the first Indian player to score 2000 runs in T20Is. She is also the first woman cricketer to reach 2000 WT20I runs.

Conclusion

Over the years, women’s cricket has become more professional and caught mainstream sports media’s eyes.

These female batsmen have contributed to the evolving sport and are influential figures in women’s cricket.

Thank you for your time!

Boby Rai
Boby Raihttps://playersbio.com/

Boby Rai

Boby Rai is a dedicated writer who specializes in capturing the essence of sporting excellence through his unique lens. As the creative mind behind numerous sports-centric projects, he brings a fresh perspective to the world of athletics, blending insightful commentary with captivating narratives.

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