Jemimah Rodrigues, Issy Wong and Alice Capsey (left to right) are among the cricketing stars set to shine at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
It’s a big summer for women’s cricket!
The Commonwealth Games gets under way on Friday, with cricket featuring for the first time since 1998 as the best of the women’s game go for gold in a T20 competition held at Edgbaston.
The tournament also serves as the perfect preparation for The Hundred, with the women’s competition starting on Thursday, August 11, just over a week after the men kick-off the 2022 edition next Wednesday.
We’ve picked out six of the best on show in Birmingham who are also set to star in The Hundred this summer…
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England stars, international heroes – The Hundred has them all!
Issy Wong (England and Birmingham Phoenix)
England have named a new-look squad for the Commonwealth Games with Tammy Beaumont sitting out – despite her 99 caps of experience.
The hosts also enter the tournament without their second-leading T20 wicket-taker of all time Anya Shrubsole, who inspired their 50-over World Cup win in 2017. She recently retired from international cricket.
Hence, the likes of Wong, Alice Capsey and Freya Kemp have stepped up.
Wong, 20, is already one of the quickest bowlers on the world stage and had the distinction of making her Test, one-day international and T20 international debut all in the space of a month this summer.
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Issy Wong bowled South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt to claim her first Test wicket at Taunton in June
Wong – who represents Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred – was impressive in all three formats. She claimed three-for on both her Test and ODI debuts. The combination of searing pace and aggression repeatedly troubled South Africa’s batters in the multi-format series.
Alana King (Australia and Trent Rockets)
Before Wong followed suit this summer, King also secured a hat-trick of debut appearances for Australia in the Ashes.
She impressed hugely as England went winless across the entire tour.
The leg-spinner – snapped up by Trent Rockets for this year’s Hundred – took three wickets in the Test match, while from her six T20 caps to date, she has nine wickets at a stonking average of 8.22.
Leg-spinner Alana King has become an integral part of the Australia side
The 26-year-old also became an integral part of Australia’s World Cup-winning side in the 50-over format earlier this year.
She fittingly took three-for to bowl Australia to victory over England the day after the world learnt of the death of Australian leg-spin great Shane Warne. She then repeated the dose a month later with a further three-for against the same opponents in the final.
Alyssa Healy (Australia and Northern Superchargers)
Is there a more destructive top-order batter in women’s cricket right now that Healy, the neice of former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy?
This current Australia have swept all before them in recent times, with Healy very much at the heart of that.
Alyssa Healy struck 170 from 138 balls as Australia beat England in the 50-over World Cup final earlier this year
She fired as many as 26 boundaries in a staggering innings of 170 off 138 balls in their 50-over World Cup final win over England – and that’s after smashing 129 in the semi against the West Indies.
Healy, who joins up with the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred, is just as destructive in the T20 format. Since permanently moving up to open the batting in late 2017, she averages nearly 30 in the format, hitting at a hugely impressive strike rate of 141.59.
Jemimah Rodrigues (India and Northern Superchargers)
Rodrigues links up with Healy for the Headingley Hundred side, having been one of the standout players from the 2021 tournament.
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Sky Sports’ Mark Butcher performs a duet with the multi-talented Jemimah Rodrigues, who was on-song for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred last season
The 21-year-old Indian was the second-leading scorer last year, scoring 249 runs across her seven innings, which included three fifties and a top score of 92 not out.
Rodrigues’ tally was bettered only by South Africa and the Oval Invcincibles’ Dane van Niekerk’s 259 runs which were accumulated over three more games during their run to the title.
Adding to Rodrigues’ talents is the dual threat of being able to sing and play the guitar – as Mark Butcher can attest to following their duet last year.
Alice Capsey (England and Oval Invincibles)
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Alice Capsey picked up a wicket with just her second ball on England debut, in the second T20 international against South Africa at Worcester
Capsey was another star of the 2021 Hundred, with her 59 off 41 balls for the Invincibles against London Spirit, in only her second game, catapulting the then 16-year-old into cricketing superstardom.
Capsey followed that up with her maiden international appearances this week, taking 1-20 with her off-spin on T20I debut against South Africa last Saturday before slamming four fours in a row during a 17-ball 25 against the same opposition on Monday.
Now at the grand-old-age of 17 – Capsey turns 18 the day the women’s competition in The Hundred begins on August 11.
The all-rounder has the chance to truly announce herself on a global stage in the Commonwealth Games.
The same can be said of left-arm seamer Kemp, who only turned 17 in April. The youngster impressed on her T20I bow against South Africa, picking up two wickets and showing great pace as well as canny back-of-the-hand slower balls.
Freya Kemp, 17, struck twice for England in her first T20 international appearance
Deandra Dottin (Barbados and Manchester Originals)
Dottin has already achieved so much in the game. She was part of the first West Indies team to reach the final of the women’s 50-over World Cup in 2013 and was a key contributor in the side that went one step further in winning the T20 World Cup in 2016.
That said, the Commonwealth Games will be a completely new experience for the 31-year-old as she competes under the umbrella of her home island of Barbados, alongside another notable West Indies star Hayley Matthews.
Could she even combine the cricket with some success in the athletics? Growing up, Dottin won multiple medals for Barbados in shot put, javelin and discus in junior international meetings.
Dottin turned out for London Spirit in last year’s Hundred, but has joined the Manchester Originals for 2022.