New Zealand's Amelia Kerr Becomes ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year

New Zealand's Amelia Kerr Becomes ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year

New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr was named the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year 2024 and won the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy for the first time. The announcement was made on Tuesday (January 28) by the ICC. She is the first cricketer from New Zealand to receive this prestigious honor. Kerr earned this award for her exceptional contribution to New Zealand's maiden T20 World Cup victory in Dubai last October.

Amelia Kerr was also named the ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year for 2024. In the T20 format, she scored 387 runs and took 29 wickets, with an average of 15.55. Her all-round performance in the World Cup final against South Africa (43 runs and 3/24) earned her both the Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament accolades. She finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 15 wickets at an average of 7.33, along with 135 runs in six innings.

Kerr also had a stellar performance in 50-over cricket, scoring 264 runs at an average of 33.00 and taking 14 wickets, including notable four-wicket hauls against India and Australia.

Kerr defeated competition from South African captain Laura Wolvaardt, Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu, and Australian all-rounder Annabel Sutherland to win the award, following her T20I Cricketer of the Year title.

On winning the award, Kerr said, "It’s a huge honor to win the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year and the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy. I don’t think too much about individual awards, but this one is very special. The greatest achievement for any cricketer is being able to contribute to the team. I’m very grateful for the support network around me."

ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year: Laura Wolvaardt (SA) (c), Smriti Mandhana (Ind), Chamari Athapaththu (SL), Hayley Matthews (WI), Nat Sciver-Brunt (Eng), Amelia Kerr (NZ), Richa Ghosh (Ind) (wk), Marizanne Kapp (SA), Orla Prendergast (Ire), Deepti Sharma (Ind), Sadia Iqbal (Pak)

Meanwhile, Indian opener Smriti Mandhana was named the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2024. She scored 747 runs at an average of 57.46 and finished the year with more runs and centuries than any other player, including centuries against New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.

ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year: Smriti Mandhana (Ind), Laura Wolvaardt (SA) (c), Chamari Athapaththu (SL), Hayley Matthews (WI), Marizanne Kapp (SA), Ash Gardner (Aus), Annabel Sutherland (Aus), Amy Jones (Eng) (wk), Deepti Sharma (Ind), Sophie Ecclestone (Eng), Kate Cross (Eng)

Additionally, South African all-rounder Annerie Dercksen was named the ICC Emerging Women's Cricketer of the Year, and UAE's Esha Oza was crowned ICC Women's Associate Cricketer of the Year for the second time. Oza scored 711 runs over the course of the year, a tally only bettered by Mandhana and Athapaththu.