| Player: | SW Bates, RH Priest, SS Mandhana, SR Taylor, MM Lanning, EA Perry, HC Knight, DJS Dottin, SE Luus, A Shrubsole, LM Kasperek, KJ Garth |
New Zealands Suzie Bates has become the first cricketer to clinch both the ICC Womens ODI and T20I Player of the Year awards, which were announced today.
Based on the 12 months period between 14 September 2015 and 20 September 2016, which included the ICC Womens World Twenty20 India 2016 and the ICC Womens Championship, Bates scored 472 runs in eight ODIs at an average of just over 94. She also took eight wickets at an economy-rate of 3.75.
In the shortest format of the game, Bates was the leading run-scorer with 429 runs at an average of 42.90 and a strike-rate of over 115 runs per 100 balls.
A delighted Bates said from Perth: It was a bit of a surprise to find out that I had won both these awards. It is always nice to be recognised for performances and after a busy year of cricket, I am pleased to have managed some consistency over both formats.
The awards are always nice but the most important thing for me is to make sure I am performing consistently and helping put the team in a position to win more games.
For the past one-and-a-half years, our team has been performing very well and lots of different players have stood up and performed under pressure. It is heartening to see that the team is doing very well going into the ICC Womens World Cup 2017 which will be held in England and Wales.
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson congratulated Bates, saying: Suzie is a well-deserved recipient of the ICC Womens ODI and T20I Player of the Year awards, maintaining strong and consistent performances across both formats of the game throughout the 12-month period under consideration.
Next year promises to be the biggest yet in womens cricket history with the ICC Womens Cricket World Cup 2017 in the United Kingdom. We look forward to watching Suzie and the other stars of the womens game on the biggest stage of them all.
Bates captained New Zealand in the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 where her side reached the semi-finals, while she also inspired the White Ferns to a third-place finish in the ICC Womens Championship which earned them an automatic qualification for next years ICC Womens World Cup 2017.
Bates had won the ICC Womens ODI Player of the Year award in 2013, but has been named as the ICC Womens T20I Player of the Year for the first time to join the esteemed company of Englands Sarah Taylor (2012 and 2013), Meg Lanning of Australia (2014) and West Indies Stafanie Taylor (2015).
The previous ICC Womens ODI Player of the Year include Australias Karen Rolton (2006), Jhulan Goswami of India (2007), Charlotte Edwards of England (2008), Claire Taylor of England (2009), Australias Shelley Nitschke (2010), West Indies Stafanie Taylor (2011 and 2012), Sarah Taylor of England (2014) and Australias Meg Lanning (2015).
The Voting Panel, which selected the ICC Womens ODI and T20I Players of the Year 2016, included former womens international cricketers as well as respected members of the media.
Meanwhile, Bates has also been named in the ICC Womens Team of the Year 2016 which will be captained by Stafanie Taylor, who spearheaded the West Indies to its maiden ICC Womens World Twenty20 title in India earlier this year. The womens team of the year has been added to the list of awards to acknowledge and appreciate outstanding performances of womens cricketers over a 12-month period.
Mr Richardson added: This is the first time that the ICC has named a womens team of the year. Congratulations to Stafanie Taylor and the rest of her team on their selection. The quality and depth of the womens game continues to grow year by year, with a number of outstanding performances during the voting period, the selectors must have had an exceptionally difficult task in settling on the final 12 players.
Apart from Bates, the side also includes two other New Zealanders wicket-keeper Rachel Priest and off-spinner Leigh Kasperek.
The side features two Australians, Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry, Englands Heather Knight and Anya Shrubshole, two West Indians in Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin as well as Indias Smriti Mandhana and Sune Luus of South Africa. Kim Garth of Ireland has been named as 12th player.
The side was selected by a panel consisting of Clare Connor (Chair), Mel Jones and Shubhangi Kulkarni, which took into account players performances during the period from 14 September 2015 to 20 September 2016.
Womens Team of the Year (in batting order):
(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2016 International Cricket Council)