Australia wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy and England all-rounder Nat Sciver, the centurions of this year’s ODI World Cup final, on Thursday were announced as nominees of the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 2022 award. Apart from the duo, tearaway South Africa pacer Shabnim Ismail and New Zealand’s leg-spin all-rounder Amelia Kerr have also been nominated for the honour.
Alyssa’s year of 50-over cricket started in Canberra during Australia’s successful Ashes campaign against England, but 2022 was all about the Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand which commenced at the start of March. The Australia opener started with a decent 28 against England in Hamilton and then followed it up with a superb 72 against Pakistan in Mount Maunganui.
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A pair of low scores followed for her — 15 against New Zealand and three against the West Indies — before the 32-year-old struck an important 72 from just 65 deliveries during Australia’s crucial group match against India in Auckland.
But it was during the cut-throat knockout matches that Alyssa really stood out, with the right-hander scoring back-to-back centuries in the semi-final and final, where she hit a career-best 170 from just 138 balls, to help Australia clinch a seventh World Cup title.
In the end, she finished the tournament with a whopping 509 runs at an imposing average of 56 and it was no surprise that she was named Player of the Series in the ODI World Cup.
Nat had a 2022 to remember as she smashed five half-centuries and two centuries to put further accolades on an already impressive resume. The majority of those big scores came during the Women’s ODI World Cup, with Nat helping herself to a team-best 436 runs, including a career-best 148 not out in the final coming in a losing cause.
If her exploits during the World Cup weren’t enough, Nat returned from a short break in December to help England record a 3-0 series sweep over the West Indies in the Caribbean. During that series she scored knocks of 90 and 85 to unsurprisingly finish as the leading run-scorer for the series with an eye-catching 180 runs at an average of 60.
Amelia found some new consistency with her ODI game in 2022 and her results with both bat and ball show she now firmly belongs among the game’s elite. She commenced the year in scintillating form as she scored three half-centuries and a century during the five-match series against India in Queenstown that was played prior to the commencement of the Women’s ODI World Cup.
While New Zealand were a shade disappointed during the home World Cup, Amelia was a model of consistency as she made a total of 204 runs and picked up nine wickets during the event to continue her stunning run of form.
More runs followed for her during New Zealand’s tour of the West Indies in September, while the 22-year-old was hardly required with the bat during the White Ferns’ most recent series at home against Bangladesh.
Shabnim’s 2022 started in style as she picked up consecutive four-wicket hauls during South Africa’s home series against the West Indies and she built on those performances to be among the most consistent performers during the ODI World Cup in New Zealand.
The 34-year-old collected 14 scalps for the tournament at an average of just 17.50, with her superb spell of 3/27 against the tournament hosts in Hamilton pivotal in helping the Proteas advance to the semi-finals of the event.
She continued on her merry way after the World Cup as she performed superbly during the away series against Ireland in Dublin and even collected the second five-wicket haul of her glittering ODI career during the series.
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