Ismail, Kerr, Sciver, Healy nominated for ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year 2022
Dec 30, 2022
Dubai [UAE], December 30 : South Africa's Shabnim Ismail, New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr, England's Nat Sciver and Australia's stand-in skipper Alyssa Healy have been nominated for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year award, the International Cricket Council announced on Thursday.
Ismail gets better with age, and the South African veteran may have had the best year of her already illustrious career in 2022.
Ismail's 2022 campaign began with two consecutive four-wicket hauls against the West Indies at home, and she became one of the most consistent performers during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.
The 34-year-old took 14 scalps for the tournament at an average of 17.50, with her superb spell of 3/27 against the tournament hosts in Hamilton crucial to propelling the Proteas to the event's semi-finals.
Amelia Kerr, a New Zealand star, found new consistency in her game in 2022, and her results with both bat and ball show she now firmly belongs among the game's elite.
Kerr started the year on a high note, scoring three half-centuries and a century in a five-match series against India in Queenstown prior to the start of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup.
While New Zealand were a little disappointed in their home World Cup, Kerr was a model of consistency, scoring 204 runs and taking nine wickets to continue her stunning run of form.
Sciver had 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 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, with Sciver helping herself to a team-best 436 runs from the tournament at an average north of 70.
If her exploits during the World Cup weren't enough, Sciver 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, Sciver 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.
Healy's year of 50-over cricket began in Canberra during Australia's successful Ashes series against England, but 2022 was all about the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, which began in New Zealand in early March.
The Australian opener began the tournament with a solid 28 against England in Hamilton, followed by a superb 72 against Pakistan in Mount Maunganui.
Healy then had a pair of low scores (15 against New Zealand and three against the West Indies) before scoring an important 72 from just 65 deliveries in Australia's crucial group match against India in Auckland.
