The 2015 Division 1 County Championship batting and bowling stats have quite different looks to them, with the 3 top batsmen all members of the England squad, whilst the 3 leading bowlers are all outside the England setup.

Bowling

Veteran Surrey leg-spinner Sarah Clarke had the season of her (long) career to lead the field in the Women’s County Championship with 23 wickets. Along the way, she also notched up two remarkable centuries – passing 100 appearances for the London side and 100 county wickets. Oh… and she also became one of the first women ever to be awarded a county cap by Surrey!

The other leading wicket-takers were also both spinners: Katie Levick (another leggie) with 20 wickets, including 2 “5-fers”, was a big part of why Yorkshire won the championship; whilst Holly Colvin, who is just trying to enjoy her cricket away from the international spotlight these days, took 18 wickets in the 50 over format.

Meanwhile, the most economical bowlers this season (minimum 30 overs) were Katherine Brunt (2.2 runs / over) and Danni Wyatt (2.5 r/o) – the latter with a Championship-leading “maiden rate” of 34%.

Batting

For the second time in 3 years, Berkshire skipper Heather Knight was the County Championship’s highest run-scorer with 305, over half of which came in her final innings of the season – her mammoth 162* v Sussex.

Second in the list of run-scorers… but only just… was Middlesex’s Fran Wilson with 301. Wilson made the move from 2nd Division Somerset only this season and has flourished in the top tier with a highest score of 110, as she pushes to regain her England place.

Third in the batting lists was Yorkshire’s Lauren Winfield. Despite only playing in half their games, she smashed 270 runs at an average of… 270, thanks to 3 Not-Outs.

Two other players also deserving of mention are Middlesex’s Beth Morgan and Berkshire’s Lissy Macleod. Morgan is supposed (!) to be moving towards retirement, but that doesn’t seem to have stopped her hitting 243 runs in the 50-over format this season, putting her 4th on the list of run-scorers; whilst Macleod was the only other player to hit a Championship century this season, with 107 v Middlesex.