It was only the third time in women’s Tests that a bowler had taken more than ten wickets in a game. Pearson’s 11-wicket haul is fifth in Wisden’s women’s spell of the 2000s.
Lucy Pearson
Australia v England, second Ashes Test
Bankstown Oval, Sydney
February 22-25, 2003
England might have lost the 2003 Ashes 1-0, but they found a big silver lining in their left-arm pacer Lucy Pearson, who finished the drawn second Test in Sydney with a 11-wicket match haul.
Batting first, Australia were shot out for 134, with Pearson picking up a career best 7-51. After giving away nine runs in her first over, Pearson made her lengths fuller, using the early swing that was on offer at the Bankstown Oval.
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She started off with a double whammy, taking out Belinda Clark and Karen Rolton in quick succession, before returning to road-roll the middle order, claiming the wickets of Mel Jones, Lisa Sthalekar, Alex Blackwell and Julie Hayes. Her spell reduced Australia from 90-3 to 124-7. She claimed her seventh and final wicket with the dismissal of Julia Price, Australia’s wicketkeeper-batter .
In the second innings, with Australia looking to set England a big target, Pearson was in her element again, dismissing the openers Clark and Kris Britt, and following it up with Jones’ scalp to make it 49-4. Sthalekar’s ton undid the good work, but she claimed her 11th wicket – a consolatory scalp of half-centurion Blackwell – to end the second innings with figures of 4-56.
That year, she was named England’s Women Cricketer of the Year, the second time she won the title.