The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association. England is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council, with Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) status. They are currently captained by Heather Knight and coached by Jon Lewis.
The Australian women's national cricket team represent Australia in international women's cricket. Currently captained by Alyssa Healy and coached by Shelley Nitschke, they are the top team in all world rankings assigned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the women's game.
The Australian women's cricket team toured England in August and September 2005. They played five One-day Internationals (ODIs), two Test matches and one Twenty20 International. They also played one One Day International against Ireland, which they won easily. They won two of the three ODIs, and were also looking to win the third, but a good last over from Katherine Brunt, yielding only four runs, gave England victory. Brunt was also the heroine of the second Test, where she took nine wickets in the match and made 52 in England's first Test win over the Australians since December 1984. It also gave England their first win in the Women's Ashes since 1963. England also won their next ODI thanks to a century from Claire Taylor, but Australia took the series 3–2 after winning the last ODI by just four runs. The last match of the series was a Twenty20 International, which was Australia's first, and they won it by seven wickets.
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed.
Charlotte Marie Edwards is an English former cricketer and current cricket coach and commentator. She played primarily as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 23 Test matches, 191 One Day Internationals and 95 Twenty20 Internationals for England between 1996 and 2016. She played domestic cricket in England for East Anglia, Kent, Hampshire and Southern Vipers, as well as overseas for Northern Districts, Western Australia, Perth Scorchers, South Australia and Adelaide Strikers.
Samantha Claire Taylor is a former cricketer who represented England more than 150 times between 1998 and 2011. A top order batter, Taylor was the first woman to be named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. Along with Charlotte Edwards, she was the mainstay of England's batting during the first decade of the 21st century, and played a key role in the team's two world titles in 2009.
Stuart Christopher John Broad is an English former cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team and was One Day and Twenty20 International captain. Broad was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. His longevity, and highly successful partnership with fellow fast bowler James Anderson cemented him as one of England's greatest ever Test bowlers.
Lisa Carprini Sthalekar is an Indian-born-Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer and captain of the Australia women's national cricket team. In domestic cricket, she represented New South Wales. She was a right-handed all rounder who bowled off spin, and was rated as the leading all rounder in the world when rankings were introduced. She was the first woman to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in ODIs. She announced her retirement from international cricket a day after the Australian team won the 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup.
Shelley Nitschke is a female cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. A left-handed batter and left arm orthodox spinner, she was one of the leading all-rounders in the world until her retirement in 2011. In May 2022 Nitschke became the interim head coach of the Australian women's team and was appointed full-time on a four-year contract in September 2022.
Alexandra Joy Blackwell is a former professional cricketer and Australian women's cricket captain who played for New South Wales and Australia as a specialist batter. After making her international debut in 2002-2003, she went on to play more matches for Australia than any other female cricketer in history. A highlight of Blackwell's career was captaining the 2010 Women's team to World Twenty20 victory.
Sarah Jane Taylor is an English cricketer and cricket coach. She appeared in 10 Test matches, 126 One Day Internationals and 90 Twenty20 Internationals for England between 2006 and her retirement from international cricket in 2019 due to an anxiety issue. Taylor is the fastest cricketer, male or female, to earn their first cap in all three formats of international cricket, doing so in the space of nine days against India in 2006.
Alyssa Jean Healy is an Australian cricketer who plays for and captains the Australian women's national team. She also plays for New South Wales in domestic cricket, as well as the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL and captains the UP Warriorz in Women's Premier League in India. She made her international debut in February 2010.
Leah Joy Poulton is an Australian former cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. She played as a specialist batter who usually opened the batting.
Lauren Kaye Ebsary is an Australian cricketer. Primarily a batter, she is a former member of the Australia national women's cricket team.
Rachael Louise Haynes is an Australian former international cricketer who has won six world championships as a member of the national women's team. A left-handed batter, Haynes was vice-captain of Australia from 2017 to 2022. Domestically, she achieved prolonged success in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) and the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), winning seven titles with New South Wales and two with the Sydney Thunder.
The 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup Final was a women's One Day International cricket match between Australia and India played on 10 April 2005 at the SuperSport Park in South Africa. It was the culmination of the 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup, the eighth tournament of the series. Australia won by 98 runs, clinching their fifth World Cup title, and their fourth on foreign soil. It was the first time that the Indian team had reached the final of a women's World Cup.
Jessica Louise Jonassen is an Australian cricketer from Rockhampton, Queensland. A left-arm orthodox bowler, Jonassen has been a member of the national women's team since 2012, going on to win four ICC T20 World Cups while becoming the fourth woman to have taken 100 One Day International wickets for Australia. Domestically, she is the current captain of both the Queensland Fire in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) and the Brisbane Heat in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).
The South Africa women's cricket team toured England in the 2018 cricket season, playing three Women's One Day Internationals (WODIs) against the England women's cricket team, followed by a tri-series which also featured New Zealand. The WODI series formed part of the 2017–2020 ICC Women's Championship, which determined qualification for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup. England were captained by Heather Knight, while South Africa were led by Dane van Niekerk.
Charlotte Ellen Dean is an English cricketer who currently plays for Somerset and London Spirit. An all-rounder, she is a right-handed batter and right-arm off break bowler. She made her international debut for the England women's cricket team in September 2021.
