Aussies on the rankings march as star players earn new career-high ratings

F.P. Report

DUBAI: Australia’s dominant ODI series triumph over Ireland has seen a host of their stars rewarded on the latest MRF Tyres ICC Women’s Player Rankings.

The reigning ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup champions showed they remain one of the best one-day sides in the world as they cruised to a 2-0 series victory over Ireland in Dublin and it was star all-rounder Ash Gardner that once again led the way.

Gardner was the joint leading wicket-taker during the series with four scalps and managed a score of 65 from her only innings and it meant the 26-year-old reached new career-high ratings in all three rankings categories.

She moved up five places to 16th on the updated ODI batter rankings and was also rewarded with a one-spot jump to fourth on the bowler rankings and one-spot boost on the all-rounder rankings to second as a result.

Gardner wasn’t the only Australian player to move to new career-high marks, with Annabel Sutherland (up five places to 16th), Phoebe Litchfield (up 22 spots to 51st) and Georgia Wareham (up 12 spots to 66th) all now boasting new marks on the list for batters following excellent efforts against the Irish.

Wareham (up eight spots to 22nd) and Sutherland (up nine places to 25th) also made ground on the list for all-rounders, while pacers Darcie Brown (up four places to 35th) and Kim Garth (up 15 spots to 56th) moved up the rankings for bowlers following decent displays with the ball.

Australia veteran Ellyse Perry scored a brilliant 91 in her only innings of the series and that saw the 32-year-old improve one place to eighth overall on the list for batters, while a host of Ireland players improved their standings after the series.

Gaby Lewis (up two places to equal 21st) and Orla Prendergast (up 11 spots to 43rd) reached new career high ratings on the list for batters and teenage seamer Georgina Dempsey (up 18 places to 50th) also found a new best mark following her four scalps for the series.