Ellyse Perry wins inaugural ICC Women's cricketer of the year award

Dubai, Dec 21: Australian batswoman Ellyse Perry has won the inaugural ICC Women's Cricketer of the year award on Thursday (December 21).

The award titled Rachal Heyhoe Flint Award - introduced in the memory of Heyhoe Flint - one of the legendary figures of women's cricket. Flint, a World Cup winner and ICC Cricket Hall of Famer, passed away in January 2017 at the age of 77.

27-year-old Perry scored an undefeated 213 and took three wickets in the one-off Ashes Test in Sydney against England, last month.

The all-rounder from Sydney accumulated 905 runs and took 22 wickets in 19 ODIs in the voting period. She also scored 28 runs and grabbed four wickets in four Twenty20 Internationals.

This is Perry's maiden ICC award since becoming the youngest Australian ever to play international cricket when she debuted in 2007 before her 17th birthday despite never having played a domestic match at the senior level.

Reacting to the news, a delighted Perry was quoted by an ICC release as saying,"2017 has been a very special year for women's cricket with many milestones reached, so it is a privilege and honour to receive the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award. I'd like to acknowledge the incredible work and legacy Rachael has left behind for the game, she is certainly missed.

"A special thanks to Cricket Australia for the incredible amount of support they provide to the Australian Women's Cricket Team and the way in which they continue to lead the development of women's sport in Australia.

"Also, my teammates and our support staff, thanks so much for making it so enjoyable and memorable to tour and represent Australia. And finally, to my family and friends for their continued and unwavering support, it is truly appreciated."

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson congratulated Perry, saying: "On behalf of the ICC, I want to congratulate Ellyse for winning the inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for the ICC Cricketer of the Year. This recognises the outstanding player of the year in memory of one of the true legends of the game. Rachael's contribution to the game goes beyond the cricket field as she not only led her team to victory at the inaugural Women's World Cup in 1973 but also played a big part in helping organise it.

"Ellyse has been outstanding during the voting period. She is a worthy winner and an inspiration and a role model for millions of young and emerging players and I'm sure Ellyse will be honoured to be the first recipient of the award."

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Amy Satterthwaite has clinched the ICC Women's ODI Player of the Year Award, while Perry's compatriot Beth Mooney has won the ICC Women's T20I Player of the Year and ICC Women's Emerging Player of the Year awards.

Satterthwaite is the second New Zealand player after Suzie Bates to have won an ICC award. Bates was declared the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year in 2013, while in 2015, she became the first player to win both the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year and ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year awards in the same year.

In the voting period, Satterthwaite scored 1,183 runs in 24 ODIs at an average of 84.5 with four centuries and five half-centuries, and also took 20 wickets. She beat the challenge from Perry and Alex Hartley of England, who finished second and third, respectively.

Commenting on the announcement, the 31-year-old from Christchurch said: "It is a great honour to be named as ICC Women's ODI Player of the Year. It is a pretty special moment and I guess, probably one of the moments to look back and reflect on the year and what it has been.

Mooney was the leading T20I scorer with 255 runs at a strike-rate of 138.5 in seven matches in the voting period, while she also scored 492 runs in 14 ODIs. In the one-off Ashes Test, she scored 27. The qualification criteria for the ICC Emerging Player of the Year was that the player had to be under the age of 26 and not have played more than six ODIs and 10 T20Is prior to the performance period.

The 23-year-old, commenting on the announcement, said: "This is very unexpected and I'm honoured to receive the ICC T20I and Emerging Player of the Year awards. I play cricket to contribute to the team's success and not for personal accolades, but equally, it is nice to be rewarded for all the work of the years.

"Twenty20 cricket has been adopted enthusiastically around the world and has proven to be a fantastic format for women and girls. The Rebel Women's Big Bash League has been highly successful for Cricket Australia and personally, I benefitted from the exposure and opportunity as a player with the Brisbane Heat.

"The ICC Women's World Cup in England was a huge event. It was disappointing for Australia but still being part of it was something that I won't forget."