Best Women Cricketers of All Time: Legends of the Game
On this page18
- 01Ellyse Perry (Australia)
- 02Mithali Raj (India)
- 03Meg Lanning (Australia)
- 04Belinda Clark (Australia)
- 05Charlotte Edwards (England)
- 06Jhulan Goswami (India)
- 07Cathryn Fitzpatrick (Australia)
- 08Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)
- 09Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
- 10Sarah Taylor (England)
- 11Smriti Mandhana (India)
- 12Harmanpreet Kaur (India)
- 13Heather Knight (England)
- 14Sophie Ecclestone (England)
- 15How we ranked the best women cricketers
- 16Key records at a glance
- 17Why comparing across eras takes care
- 18How the women’s game grew around these careers
We rank on statistical dominance measured against each player's era, plus proven impact on how the women's game is played. A single record-setting series is not enough; sustained output and a genuine feat that reset the sport lift a placement above a peer.
- Two-way great
Ellyse Perry (Australia)
Perry is the only cricketer of either gender to reach 7,000 international runs and 300 wickets, a double she completed in December 2024 and has extended since. Her 213 not out against England is the highest Test score by an Australian woman, and her fast-medium bowling still takes wickets in a career past its second decade.
She ranks above Mithali Raj because Raj dominated one discipline while Perry has topped both with bat and ball, a three-time ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year who was still on the field for Australia's 2026 T20 World Cup title. That combination puts her in any conversation about the greatest cricketers of all time, across both games.
Team: Australia · Role: seam-bowling all-rounder · Defining feat: first to 7,000 runs & 300 wickets · Honors: 3x ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year
- Career run leader
Mithali Raj (India)
Raj retired in 2022 with 10,868 international runs, the most in women's cricket history, built on 7,805 ODI runs at an average above 50 — a format tally no other woman has come within 2,000 of. She sits atop the women's column of our most runs in international cricket reference.
She led India to two 50-over World Cup finals, in 2005 and 2017, the only India captain of either gender to reach two. She ranks below Perry on range, not weight of runs: her case is pure batting longevity across 23 years at the top of the order.
Team: India · Role: top-order batter · Defining feat: most international runs in women's cricket (10,868) · Span: 1999–2022
- Serial champion
Meg Lanning (Australia)
Lanning's 15 Women's ODI centuries are the most by any player in the format, ahead of a chasing pack led by Smriti Mandhana on 14. She made her hundreds at a career ODI average above 50, a rate of conversion no contemporary matches.
As captain from age 21 until her 2023 retirement, she lifted six global trophies: four T20 World Cups, the 2022 ODI World Cup, and Commonwealth Games gold. That haul places her among the most successful cricket captains in the sport, in either game.
Team: Australia · Role: batter and captain · Defining feat: most Women's ODI hundreds (15) · Titles: 6 global as captain
- Pioneer
Belinda Clark (Australia)
Clark's 229 not out against Denmark in 1997 was the first double century in ODI cricket by any player, and it stood as the men's-or-women's benchmark for five years until Sachin Tendulkar matched the feat. No result in this list did more to signal how far ahead the women's game's early stars were.
She captained Australia to the 1997 and 2005 World Cups and became the first woman inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. She ranks above Charlotte Edwards because her single record reshaped the format's history, not just her nation's.
Team: Australia · Role: opening batter and captain · Defining feat: first ODI double century (229*, 1997) · Titles: 2 World Cups
- England mainstay
Charlotte Edwards (England)
Edwards was England's most prolific cross-format batter and the first woman to pass 2,500 runs in T20 Internationals, a marker of both output and the length of a career that spanned two decades of the amateur-to-professional shift.
As captain she delivered the 2009 50-over World Cup and World T20 double in a single year, plus multiple Ashes wins. She edges Jhulan Goswami here on breadth of trophies won as a leader rather than individual bowling records.
Team: England · Role: batter and captain · Defining feat: first woman past 2,500 T20I runs · Titles: 2009 World Cup + World T20
- Pace record-holder
Jhulan Goswami (India)
Goswami retired in September 2022 as the leading wicket-taker in Women's ODIs, with 255 from 204 matches — 64 clear of the next-best bowler and still the standard in our highest wicket-takers in ODI cricket rankings.
In her final ODI, against England at Lord's, she became the first woman to bowl 10,000 deliveries in the format. She generated real pace when almost no woman did, and was the first Indian woman named ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year, in 2007.
Team: India · Role: fast bowler · Defining feat: most Women's ODI wickets (255) · Span: 2002–2022
- Fastest ever
Cathryn Fitzpatrick (Australia)
Fitzpatrick is still regarded as the quickest bowler the women's game has produced, a genuine express talent in an era when spin and medium pace defined most attacks. She holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest 100 ODI wickets by a woman, reaching it in 64 matches.
She finished with 180 ODI wickets at an average under 17 and anchored Australia's 1997 and 2005 World Cup wins. She ranks below Goswami on volume but changed what opponents expected pace bowling to look like.
Team: Australia · Role: fast bowler · Defining feat: fastest woman to 100 ODI wickets (64 matches) · Titles: 2 World Cups
- Two-way No. 1
Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)
Taylor debuted at 17 and became the only cricketer of either gender ranked world No. 1 in both ODI batting and ODI bowling at the same time, the clearest measure of a complete all-round game.
As a long-serving West Indies captain she carried a team without Australia or England's resources, which is why her individual peaks stand out more sharply. She is the best player the Caribbean women's game has produced.
Team: West Indies · Role: batting all-rounder and captain · Defining feat: simultaneous world No. 1 ODI bat and ball
- T20 run leader
Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
Bates is the all-time leading run-scorer in Women's T20 Internationals, past 4,700 runs, and holds the record for most runs across Women's T20 World Cups. She captained the White Ferns for close to seven years before retiring from international cricket after the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Her range is unusual: she also represented New Zealand in basketball at the Olympics. She ranks here on durability across formats rather than a single trophy haul.
Team: New Zealand · Role: opening batter · Defining feat: most Women's T20I runs · Retired: 2026
- Keeper benchmark
Sarah Taylor (England)
Taylor is widely rated the finest wicketkeeper the women's game has produced; Adam Gilchrist called her the best in the world "male or female" in 2018, and her leg-side stumpings standing up to seam became her signature.
She helped England win the 2009 World Cup and World T20 double, then the 2017 ODI World Cup at home, closing a 13-year career with 6,533 international runs before retiring in 2019. Her placement rests on a specialist skill no peer matched, not batting volume.
Team: England · Role: wicketkeeper-batter · Defining feat: benchmark women's keeper · Titles: 2009 and 2017 World Cups
- Modern great
Smriti Mandhana (India)
Mandhana became the first woman to pass 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year in 2025, and her 14 ODI centuries now trail only Lanning's 15. She was a leading run-scorer in India's title-winning 2025 World Cup campaign and has held the ICC's No. 1 ODI batting ranking.
She ranks above Kaur on sustained run-scoring across formats, and captains in India's Women's Premier League. Her final place in this list is still open, so she is judged on what is already banked.
Team: India · Role: opening batter · Defining feat: first woman to 1,000 ODI runs in a year (2025) · Honors: 2x ICC Cricketer of the Year
- World-Cup-winning captain
Harmanpreet Kaur (India)
Kaur's 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 World Cup semi-final remains one of the sport's defining attacking innings, the knock that forced the rest of the world to take India seriously. In November 2025 she captained India to their maiden Women's World Cup title, beating South Africa in the final.
She ranks above Heather Knight because she converted years of near-misses into a trophy, and remains one of the most destructive finishers in the game — the kind of hitting covered in our best finishers in cricket list.
Team: India · Role: middle-order batter and captain · Defining feat: 171* in 2017; 2025 World Cup title · Honors: World Cup-winning captain
- Long-serving captain
Heather Knight (England)
Knight captained England for nine years and 199 matches, from 2016 until stepping down in 2025, leading the side to the home World Cup win in 2017 plus two further ICC final appearances in 2018 and 2022.
She contributed as a genuine all-rounder with bat and part-time off-spin, and her consistency held England together through multiple squad transitions. She ranks on leadership longevity rather than a single standout record.
Team: England · Role: batting all-rounder and captain · Defining feat: 2017 World Cup title · Tenure: 2016–2025 (199 matches)
- Spin No. 1
Sophie Ecclestone (England)
Ecclestone's left-arm spin carried her to extended runs as the ICC's world No. 1-ranked bowler in both ODI and T20I cricket, a rare double for a specialist spinner in the white-ball formats.
Newer spinners have since traded the top T20I ranking around, but she remains central to England's attack and, with Mandhana and Kaur, represents the generation now carrying the women's game. She ranks 14th on a shorter body of work than the names above, with room to climb.
Team: England · Role: left-arm spinner · Defining feat: world No. 1 in ODI and T20I bowling · Status: active
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- Ellyse Perry (Australia)
- Mithali Raj (India)
- Meg Lanning (Australia)
- Belinda Clark (Australia)
- Charlotte Edwards (England)
- Jhulan Goswami (India)
- Cathryn Fitzpatrick (Australia)
- Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)
- Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
- Sarah Taylor (England)
- Smriti Mandhana (India)
- Harmanpreet Kaur (India)
- Heather Knight (England)
- Sophie Ecclestone (England)
Audience ranking
How everyone ranked them
Built from reader rankings using position-based points.
The ranked cards above name the 14 players and the record or moment that earns each place. The sections below explain how we built the order, why comparing across eras takes care, and how the women’s game changed around these careers.
How we ranked the best women cricketers
We weigh three things, in this order:
- Statistical dominance relative to the era. Clark’s double century, Goswami’s 255 wickets, and Lanning’s 15 hundreds all cleared the field of their time, not just posted good numbers.
- Impact on the game. Fitzpatrick’s pace, Sarah Taylor’s keeping, and the professionalism Clark brought in the 1990s changed how the sport was played and seen, which lifts a placement above a peer with similar raw stats.
- Sustained output. A single great series does not rank; a full career of it does. Active players like Mandhana, Kaur, and Ecclestone are judged only on what is already achieved, since their final standing is still being written.
For the same statistical test applied across both games’ record books, see our highest batting average in ODI cricket leaderboard.
Key records at a glance
These are the individual marks that anchor the ranking, and who holds them:
| Record | Holder | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| Most international runs (women) | Mithali Raj | 10,868 |
| Most Women’s ODI runs | Mithali Raj | 7,805 |
| Most Women’s ODI centuries | Meg Lanning | 15 |
| Most Women’s ODI wickets | Jhulan Goswami | 255 |
| First ODI double century (any gender) | Belinda Clark | 229* (1997) |
| First to 7,000 runs + 300 wickets | Ellyse Perry | 2024 |
| Most Women’s T20I runs | Suzie Bates | 4,700+ |
Why comparing across eras takes care
The early names on this list played part-time, self-funded cricket with little TV coverage; today’s stars have professional contracts, analysts, and franchise leagues. That gap makes raw totals misleading on their own — Clark and Fitzpatrick built their records against thinner scheduling, while Mandhana and Ecclestone play far more matches per year. We adjust for it by asking how far each player stood above her own peers, not by lining up career tallies from different decades. If you are new to reading the numbers behind these careers, our guide on how to read cricket scores breaks down the basics.
How the women’s game grew around these careers
Professional contracts, India’s Women’s Premier League, England’s The Hundred, and rising broadcast deals pushed the sport’s pay and visibility sharply upward from the mid-2010s. India’s maiden World Cup win in 2025 and record crowds at T20 World Cup finals show how quickly the audience has scaled. The franchise economics now shaping the women’s game echo the men’s-league rivalries we cover in Is PSL Bigger Than IPL?, and for more from our cricket desk, see our Imam-ul-Haq biography.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the greatest women's cricketer of all time?+
Ellyse Perry is the most common pick today because she is the first cricketer of either gender to reach 7,000 international runs and 300 wickets, a range no rival matches. Belinda Clark and Mithali Raj are the other names that sit at or near the top of most serious lists, for different reasons: Clark for pioneering the professional era, Raj for scoring more international runs than any woman in history.
Who is the best active women's cricketer right now?+
Ellyse Perry and Smriti Mandhana lead the active pool. Mandhana became the first woman to score 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year in 2025 and has held the ICC's No. 1 ODI batting ranking, while Perry keeps adding to her all-round records into her second decade. Harmanpreet Kaur and spinner Sophie Ecclestone are the other active names rankings cite most.
Why is Mithali Raj rated so highly despite retiring in 2022?+
Raj finished with 10,868 international runs, the most in women's cricket history, and 7,805 of them in ODIs at an average above 50. No other woman has come within 2,000 runs of that ODI total. She also led India to two 50-over World Cup finals, in 2005 and 2017, the only India captain of either gender to reach two, which is why her retirement did not move her down the all-time order.
Which country has produced the best women cricketers?+
Australia, comfortably. Belinda Clark, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Meg Lanning, and Ellyse Perry are all Australian, and the national team has won more ICC Women's World Cup titles across both formats than any other country, including the 2026 T20 World Cup. India, England, and New Zealand have produced the next tier of all-time greats, but Australia's depth across eras is unmatched.
Did India ever win a Women's World Cup?+
Yes. India won their first senior Women's Cricket World Cup in November 2025, beating South Africa by 52 runs in the final at Navi Mumbai under captain Harmanpreet Kaur. It ended a long wait that included runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2017. Smriti Mandhana and all-rounder Deepti Sharma were central to the campaign, and the title reshaped how India's current stars are ranked historically.
Who holds the batting and bowling records in women's cricket?+
Mithali Raj holds the most international runs (10,868) and the most ODI runs (7,805). Meg Lanning has the most Women's ODI centuries (15), and Belinda Clark hit the first ODI double century, 229 not out, in 1997. On the ball, Jhulan Goswami leads Women's ODIs with 255 wickets, 64 clear of the next bowler, while Suzie Bates is the all-time leading run-scorer in Women's T20 Internationals.
Sources
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