DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the nominees for the prestigious Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2024.
Nominees include Laura Wolvaardt of South Africa, Chamari Athapaththu of Sri Lanka, Annabel Sutherland of Australia and Melie Kerr of New Zealand.
Notably, no Pakistani player made the list, highlighting a challenging year for the 2024 Pakistan women’s cricket team.
Chamari Athapaththu was appointed after an exceptional year for Sri Lanka.
The 34-year-old accumulated 458 runs in nine ODIs at an average of 65.42, including a record score of 195.
On the bowling front in the 50-over format, she took nine wickets with best figures of 3/15.
Despite a surprising dip in form during the Women’s T20 World Cup, Chamari ended the year as the tournament’s second highest run-scorer.
Overall, she scored 720 runs in 21 matches in 2024, at an average of 40, including two centuries and four fifties, while hitting 86 fours and 32 sixes.
With the ball, she was equally impressive, taking 21 wickets at an average of 16.8, with her best figures being 4/24.
Proteas star Laura Wolvaardt has had a remarkable year, scoring 697 runs in 12 ODIs at an impressive average of 87.12.
In the Test format, she scored 223 runs in three matches at an average of 37.16.
In T20Is, Wolvaardt contributed 673 runs in 19 matches at an average of 39.58, including his maiden T20I century that guided South Africa to victory against the Island Nation in Benoni.
Australia’s Annabel Sutherland displayed her all-round brilliance in 2024. In a single Test match, she smashed 210 runs and took five wickets, with best bowling figures of 3/19.
In ODIs, Sutherland scored 369 runs in 12 matches and took 13 wickets, with his best bowling performance being 4/39.
Melie Kerr played a crucial role in New Zealand’s first Women’s T20 World Cup victory and set a national record for most wickets in a calendar year.
His breakthrough performance came during the T20 World Cup where he scored 135 runs and took 15 wickets.
Throughout 2024, Kerr scored 387 runs in 18 T20Is at an average of 24.18 and claimed 29 wickets at an average of 15.55, with best figures of 4/20.
In the ODIs, she scored 264 runs in nine matches at an average of 33 and took 14 wickets, with her best performance being 4/42.
