Ellyse Perry - Australian Women’s premier all-rounder, on Thursday, won the inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award after being the International Cricket Council’s Women’s Cricketer of the Year.
Another Australian opener Beth Mooney also managed to claim the reward for her stunning show with the bat, winning both the ICC Women's T20I and Emerging Player awards.
On the other hand, New Zealand's Amy Satterthwaite received the One Day International Player of the Year award for her exploit with the bat, scoring 1183 runs in 24 matches between 21 September 2016 and 21 December 2017. Indian vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur was also in the race to be Women’s Cricketer of the Year -beaten by Perry. She managed the third spot on the list.
The 27-year-old Perry made headlines across the world when she smashed an unbeaten 213 in first Ashes Day-Night Test at North Sydney Oval last month. She has 905 runs and 22 wickets in 19 One-Day Internationals in the voting period between September 21, 2016, to December 31, 2017.
According to a report in the ICC website, Perry said about the great honour, “2017 has been a very special year for women’s cricket with many milestones reached, so it is a privilege and honour to receive the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award. I’d like to acknowledge the incredible work and legacy Rachael has left behind for the game, she is certainly missed.”
She further added, “A special thanks to Cricket Australia for the incredible amount of support they provide to the Australian women’s cricket team and the way in which they continue to lead the development of women’s sport in Australia. Also, my team-mates and our support staff, thanks so much for making it so enjoyable and memorable to tour and represent Australia. And finally, to my family and friends for their continued and unwavering support, it is truly appreciated.”
Meanwhile, Mooney, who scored 255 runs in seven T20Is at the impressive strike rate of 138.5, including knocks of 86 and 117 and 492 runs in 14 ODIs during the voting period, said, “This is very unexpected and I’m honoured to receive the ICC T20I and Emerging Player of the Year awards. The Rebel Women’s Big Bash League has been highly successful for Cricket Australia and personally, I benefitted from the exposure and opportunity as a player with the Brisbane Heat.”
Satterthwaite, who amassed 1183 runs in 24 ODIs at an average of 84.5 during the voting period, said, “It is a pretty special moment and I guess, probably one of the moments to look back and reflect on the year and what it has been. The first six months were a lot of cricket and I really enjoyed myself in the middle.
Everyone talks about the four hundreds, that is something that you need situations to go in your favour to hit something like this. It was pretty special at the same time, but I have enjoyed playing my cricket in the last 12 months and really enjoyed my time with the team. I think we have a good team which is gelling together and hitting nice momentum.”
ICC also announced the best ODI and T20I teams of 2017, in which only Indian left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht to feature in both XIs. Indian skipper Mithali Raji also found herself in the ODI team while Kaur in the T20I side.
ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year: Tammy Beaumont, Meg Lanning, Mithali Raj, Amy Satterthwaite, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight (capt), Sarah Taylor (wk), Dane van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp, Ekta Bisht, Alex Hartley
ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year: Beth Mooney (wk), Danni Wyatt, Harmanpreet Kaur, Stafanie Taylor (capt), Sophie Devine, Deandra Dottin, Hayley Williams, Megan Schutt, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Lea Tahuhu, Ekta Bisht
