Alyssa Healy caps off stellar 2018 with T20I Player of the Year award
Healy, the Australian wicket-keeper and opening bat, finished the year fourth on the runs chart with 578 runs in 17 matches at an average of 41.28, but what worked in her favour was that the runs came in winning causes. All six of her half-centuries came in Australian wins.
With aggressive stroke-play at the top of the order, she took on bowlers in the Powerplay and helped Australia race off the blocks. Her opening partnership with Beth Mooney has been the most successful one of the year for any wicket in terms of runs, with the two adding 50-plus runs six times.
Healy's strike-rate of 145.95 is the highest among batters with more than 300 runs for the year. In the World T20 match against Ireland, she smashed fifty off just 21 balls, only behind Sophie Devine's record of 18 balls to the landmark in Women's T20Is.
Missing out on the top spot were New Zealand's Suzie Bates and Australia's Megan Schutt – and that there were two Australians in the top three was only fitting, considering they won the coveted world title in the West Indies.
Bates, who during 2018 became the highest run-scorer of all time in women's T20Is, going ahead of Charlotte Edwards' mark of 2748 runs, brought up her maiden century in the format this year and topped the runs chart with 670 in 17 matches at an average of 51.53. It's little surprise that she sits at No.1 on the MRF Tyres ICC Women's T20I Rankings for Batters.
Bates stepped down from captaincy this year, and that only allowed her to take her batting to new heights. She struck a remarkable 89 fours along with nine sixes for the year, forming an explosive pair with Sophie Devine.
Schutt, who is No.1 on the bowling rankings charts, had a hat-trick earlier in the year against India. Consistent with the new ball, she was able to offer her team both control and wickets as they needed. She finished with 28 wickets for the year to be third among the top wicket-takers, averaging a remarkable 11.50 and striking every 13.3 balls.