It is a sign of the growth of International Women’s Cricket that it is increasingly hard to pick a favourite player. At one time earlier in the millenium, it could only have been Charlotte Edwards, who was clearly the supererior player in the England team. I have always slated Sarah Taylor as my favourite women’s player, but Heather Knight and Anya Shrubsole would be close behind.
Knight and Shrubsole strike me as players that have had to make the most of every bit of natural talent they have. And both have had to be willing to put in the ‘hard yards’. Knight’s recent Ashes Century being a standout example of what I mean, Shrubsole’s six wickets in the 2017 World Cup Final another. Shrubsole has at times been the one to perform when others failed, particularly in the high pressure games. While Shrubsole is rightly remembered for that World Cup Final, it is actually the semi-final that sticks in my mind. Engand had taken a leaf out of the men’s playbook, and made life quite difficult for themselves in a game they should have ‘walked’ against an opponent that they had thrashed earlier in the competition. Shrubsole walked out with England 8 down, belted a 4 through the covers and walked off, pausing to console (from memory) Dane van Niekerk. She actually looked slightly annoyed that she had to come out at all. Shrubsole did something similar in the 2022 World Cup.
I have obviously never met Anya Shrubsole, so any impressions I have of her are purely from the cricket field. But I have always had the impression that I don’t think I would want to end up on the wrong side of her. On the field, she showed the sort of grit and determination that the men’s test match team would do well to emulate. In the 2022 World Cup, she was ropy at the start but when the pressure was on became one of the best players on the park.
That being said, at times in the last couple of years Shrubsole looked short of a yard of pace, and was a bit too ‘hittable’ for some of the best players in the game. Over her career, she did sometimes look like an easy target but would then suddenly take three wickets. However, it was hard not to form an impression that it she was starting on the journey down, having achieved highs in 2017 that will not easily be matched. And England will need to find a little more pace before they can hope to beat Australia in a Final.
This is a player who has gone out on a high. Yes, England did not win the 2022 World Cup, but making a World Cup Final the last game you play is not a bad way to go out – perhaps Ian Botham wishes he had done so back in 1992. It makes it a wise decsion, and I am pleased to see her go out on her own terms.
Cricketed 