Fresh challenger to Ecclestone's crown emerges on latest rankings update
A series sweep over South Africa sees a host of England players make good ground on the updated rankings, while Bangladesh stars also make rapid improvements following their own strong result in their recent ICC Women's Championship series against Ireland.
Sophie Ecclestone's hold as the best T20I bowler in the world has taken a hit with an England teammate closing in on the premier position on the latest ICC Women's T20I Player Rankings.
Ecclestone managed just two wickets across three matches during England's recent 3-0 series sweep over South Africa away from home and her lead at the top was reduced to just 23 ratings points as a result.
Best of Sophie Ecclestone | WT20WC 2024
Teammate Sarah Glenn was the big winner following her five wickets during the series, with the right-armer improving three spots to jump to equal second overall and tie with Pakistan's Sadia Iqbal as Ecclestone's closest challenger.
Fellow spinner Charlie Dean was the leading wicket-taker during that series and rises six places to equal ninth on the list for T20I bowlers, while teammate Lauren Bell improves five spots to 15th overall following her two scalps from a pair of appearances.
Reverse and out! Bosch dismissed as Glenn strikes | WT20WC 2024
Australian duo Beth Mooney (first) and Tahlia McGrath (second) remain steady in a relatively unchanged top 10 for T20I batters, but a trio of players from England make some eye-catching ground following some strong efforts in South Africa.
Experienced all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt gains two places to move to 12th following her 126 runs for the series, opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge improves three places to 14th after her 142 runs, while Maia Bouchier leapfrogs one spot to claim 25th position.
There is also some movement on the latest ODI player rankings, with a group of Bangladesh players making giant strides following their impressive 3-0 series sweep over Ireland that keeps their chances alive of automatically qualifying for next year's ICC Women's Cricket World Cup.
Sharmin Akhter Supta was adjudged Player of the Series for her 211 runs at an average of 70.33 and the right-hander re-enters the rankings for ODI batters in 43rd place after impressing in her return to international cricket.
Bangladesh’s 3-0 whitewash of Ireland leaves the race for the remaining two spots in the ICC Women’s Championship wide open 👀 #BANvIRE | #IWC25https://t.co/xLo96Qg98s
— ICC (@ICC) December 2, 2024
Bangladesh teammates Fargana Hoque (up six spots to 16th) and Nigar Sultana (up 11 places to 28th) also made some ground on the list for ODI batters, while Ireland duo Amy Hunter (up six rungs to 32nd) and Laura Delany (up four spots to 39th) climbed a few rungs as well.
Left-arm spinner Nahida Akter was the big winner on the list for ODI bowlers as she gained three spots to move to seventh overall on the back of six wickets for the series against Ireland, while teammates Sultana Khatun (up 23 places to 31st) and Rabeya (up six spots to 40th) also made some ground.
Ireland will be buoyed by the efforts of Arlene Kelly as she improved three places to move to 27th overall for ODI bowlers, while teammate Orla Prendergast gains four spots to jump to 23rd for ODI all-rounders.