There is no cricket today – the group games are done and the semi-finals happen on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Therefore, as the first of two posts I am doing today (the third to last image you will see in this one provides a hint as to the subject matter of the second post) I shall be naming my team of the tournament.
SELECTION CRITERIA
I am picking chiefly based on what has happened at this tournament, and as usual I am considering overall balance as well as player quality. Also, although I could probably have safely done the lazy thing and just named Australia en bloc I have not done so.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
- Smriti Mandhana (India, left handed opening batter). The stylish left hander has had an excellent tournament, including a magnificent century against new Zealand that helped India to seal their spot in the semi-finals.
- +Alyssa Healy (Australia, right handed opening batter, wicket keeper). Before injuring her calf she had been in superb form, twice making run chases, one large and one not so large, look absurdly easy by scoring commanding and rapid centuries at the top of the order.
- Beth Mooney (Australia, left handed batter). Australia were deep in trouble against Pakistan, and it was Mooney, helped first by some defiance from Kim Garth and then a sparky 50 from Alana King, who dug them out of it with a century.
- *Sophie Devine (New Zealand, right handed batter, right arm medium pacer, captain). Although bowing out of ODI cricket in a blaze of glory has not happened for the Kiwi legend it is not any fault of hers, she has personally had a very good tournament.
- Annabel Sutherland (Australia, right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). The leading wicket taker of the tournament, and although she has done less with the bat a 98 not out when her side had been reduced to 68-4 chasing 245 against England was a crucial effort in that department.
- Deepti Sharma (India, left handed batter, right arm off spinner). She has had a superb tournament, being second on the wicket taking list and having scored some useful runs.
- Ashleigh Gardner (Australia, right handed batter, off spinner). Two centuries (one from number six, one from number seven), both made with her team initially in a bit of trouble, and has bowled well.
- Shorna Akter (Bangladesh, leg spinner, right handed batter). Two cheap three-fors with the ball and a maiden ODI 50 with the bat. I have placed her lower in the order than she has been batting for Bangladesh because they are a weak batting side and my view, that 50 notwithstanding, is that at the moment she is actually a bowling all rounder, rather than the batting all rounder that her position in the Bangladesh order suggests.
- Alana King (Australia, leg spinner, right handed batter). Even if she had done nothing else all tournament, which is far from the case, her destruction of South Africa when she rewrote the record books with her figures of 7-2-18-7 would have earned her a place in this XI.
- Sophie Ecclestone (England, left arm orthodox spinner, right handed batter). The fact that she is England’s joint leading wicket taker, with 12 scalps, in spite of missing one match due to illness and bowling only four balls in another due to a shoulder injury speaks for itself.
- Marufa Akter (Bangladesh, right arm medium fast bowler, right handed batter). Has shown herself to be an extremely skilful operator in conditions in which most teams, including her own Bangladesh, have gone in spin heavy.
This side has great batting depth and a wealth of bowling options – only the top three in the order won’t be used as bowlers, and everyone down to Ecclestone, scheduled to bat at ten (who might be promoted and sent in to swing for hills if it was close to the end of the innings) could offer something with the bat.
PHOTO GALLERY ONE
RESERVES/ HONOURABLE MENTIONS
My first reserve, on the grounds that she can replace anyone other than one of the openers without weakening the XI is England’s Natalie Sciver-Brunt, right handed batter, right arm medium pacer and shrewd captain. I also want a reserve opening batter, and my choice there is Laura Wolvaardt of South Africa, a right hander. My third choice of reserve is Linsey Smith of England, left arm spinner and brilliant fielder. Her ability to take the new ball, which she has shone doing this tournament counts in her favour. To round out the squad I name a reserve seamer, Indian right arm medium fast bowler Kranti Gaud, who with the one exception of taking a pounding at Australia hands has had a very fine tournament.
The only rival to Mandhana for the left handed opener’s slot was Phoebe Litchfield, but she has not been quite as good as the Indian at this tournament. As well as Wolvaardt who I actually named as a reserve, the other South African opener Tazmin Brits deserves a mention. Marizanne Kapp has shown no signs of fading powers at this tournament, but I could not name her ahead of either Sutherland or Devine.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
aspiblog 