New White Ferns skipper Amelia Kerr has been in incredible form with bat and ball since taking over as captain, achieving a new personal best in the ICC all-rounder T20I ratings earlier this week. But where does that put her among the best of all time in the format?
The ICC ranking system rates batting and bowling on a scale of 1 to 1000, with all-rounder rating obtained by multiplying the two and dividing by 1000. This means to have a high rating, players must be highly rated at batting and bowling at the same time – no mean feat.
The numbers are the highest rating point achieved for each all-rounder.
10. Deandra Dottin
411 v Pakistan (2019)
International cricket’s ‘World Boss’ is the first name on this list. Dottin recently made headlines by becoming the first West Indies player to be out for obstructing the field in international cricket, but she is far better known for her status as one of the greatest short-form all-rounders.
She was the first centurion in women’s T20Is, back in 2010, when her primary role was batting. As her seam bowling developed, Dottin grew into a great of the game; her all-rounder rating peaked in February 2019, after 22 and 2-26 against Pakistan. For a period of three matches, she was the top-ranked all-rounder in the world.
9. Deepti Sharma
416 v West Indies (2023)
Still only 28 years old, Deepti has been an international cricketer for over 11 years now. 153 wickets with her off spin already showcase her quality at the top level, but she is also one of only 10 players to do the 1,000 runs-100 wickets double in this format.
She has maintained a batting rating of over 500 points for the best part of four years now, along with a bowling rating regularly in the 730s. Her peak all-rounder rating came in February 23; a haul of 3-15 against West Indies pushed her bowling rating to 749. She did not bat, but held a rating of 556 at the time.
8. Sophie Devine
425 v Australia (2020)
With a career spanning over two decades, Devine is the force of New Zealand cricket that simply refuses to stop. In fact, it was only last week that she recorded her career-best figures in T20Is, 4-12 against South Africa.
Against Australia on September 26, 2020, Devine dismissed Alyssa Healy, Rachael Haynes and Sophie Molineux to return 3-18 and restrict them to 138. She scored 29 opening the batting as well – it wasn’t enough to win New Zealand the game, but she did achieve her best all-rounder rating after that. Devine became the No.1 all-rounder in the world after this, holding onto the spot for six months.
7. Ellyse Perry
428 v India (2020)
One of the world’s best all-rounders on one of the world’s best teams, Perry is more of a batter these days. But her all-rounder rating was largely driven by her seam bowling; she has never broken into the ICC’s top ten T20I batters in the world.
Perry’s peak bowling rating of 768 came just 20 matches into her career, as her batting rating hovered around the 300-mark even 50 matches in. A virtuoso performance – 49 and 4-13 – against India in 2020 pushed her all-rounder rating to its peak. It also made her the first (and till date, only) player to score 40-plus and take 4 wickets in a women’s T20I more than once.
6. Ash Gardner
460 v South Africa (2023)
Last year, Gardner made her way to No.7 on the corresponding list in ODI cricket. Perry is two spots ahead there, but the off-spinner can claim bragging rights in the T20 format. She has never broken into the top three as a batter or bowler alone, but consistency across both disciplines has helped Gardner push past that 450 rating mark.
Her peak rating, satisfyingly, came after a haul of 29 and 1-20 against South Africa in the 2023 T20 World Cup final; Gardner was named Player of the Tournament as Australia won their sixth title.
5. Lisa Sthalekar
464 v India (2012)
A third Australian in a row, Sthalekar was one of the early greats of T20 cricket, before she swapped bat and ball for the mic to become a respected broadcaster. Her off spin earned her four separate spells at the top of the T20I bowling rankings.
Sthalekar’s career was already winding down when she achieved her peak all-rounder rating in March 2012; less than a year later, she would already have played her last T20I. She had three separate (brief) runs at the top of the rankings, and was in the middle of a three-month spell at No.1 when she retired.
4. Amelia Kerr
474 v South Africa (2026)
Undoubtedly the current superstar of the White Ferns side, Kerr’s game has gone to another level after she was made full-time captain earlier this year. 101* & 2-14, 82 & 1-8, 1-12, 78 & 0-24, 32 & 2-29 read her match returns in T20Is, not to mention a record-breaking ODI series in between.
Read more: 301 runs in five innings: New Zealand captain breaks T20I world record with third consecutive fifty
Unsurprisingly, Kerr’s current batting rating of 668 is the highest of her career, driving the recent surge in her all-rounder rating to a personal best as well. Watch this space – it may not be long before she moves up another spot on the all-time list…
3. Stafanie Taylor
524 v Sri Lanka (2012)
Player of the Tournament at the 2016 T20 World Cup, Taylor also has the distinction of recording her career-best T20I score of 90 on debut in 2008. Primarily a batter, she is one of only four players to achieve an ICC women’s T20I batting rating in excess of 800, but has a bowling peak of 703 to go with it.
Those did not happen at the same time, but after Taylor recorded 62 and 3-23 against Sri Lanka in May 2012, her batting and bowling ratings were 747 and 702 respectively, giving her an all-round peak of 524.
2. Hayley Matthews
527 v Pakistan (2024)
Two West Indians in the top three is only shocking in that it isn’t two Australians instead. Matthews is currently the world’s No.1 all-rounder (just ahead of Kerr), a position she has held unbroken since October 2023. She has also separately achieved the No.2 ranking among batters and No.1 ranking among bowlers in the past.
On April 30, 2024, she scored 68 (49) against Pakistan, before taking 2-22 in a two-run win. That pushed her all-rounder rating from 511 to 527, above Taylor to make it the highest anyone had achieved in 12 years.
1. Shelley Nitschke
568 v New Zealand (2011)
Australia’s head coach will be plotting against Matthews over the next week or so as the two teams face off, but if she knew of this list there may be the personal element of protecting her record as well. Nitschke is one of three players to achieve a 600-plus all-rounder ranking in ODIs, and the only one with 550-plus in T20Is.
She only played 36 matches, but in that time achieved peak ratings of 794 and 780 with bat and ball respectively. She went past the 550 mark with 22 and 3-19 against England in January 2011, going on to her peak rating the following month. Nitschke’s final T20I was in June 2011 – she was rated 511 when she bowed out.
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