As regular readers will know, it’s Spin City in women’s international cricket, these days more so than ever, and the top 6 players in our Women’s International Championship bowling rankings are all spinners.

Australia’s Jess Jonassen was the leading wicket-taker in the Championship, with 31 wickets, though she was a little bit more expensive than some: her best figures – a 5-fer against New Zealand – came at the expense of 50 runs off 9 overs that day.

At No.2 Anisa Mohammed – the first bowler ever (male or female) to take 100 wickets in T20 internationals – has been crucial to the West Indies’ cause in ODIs too, as they scrapped their way to the final direct World Cup qualification spot.

At No. 3, Rajeshwari Gayakwad is perhaps the surprise entry in the top 10 – an orthodox left-armer, she first really announced herself against England at Scarbados back in 2014, when she took 4-42, including the scalps of Sarah Taylor and Nat Sciver. She has been remarkably consistent throughout the Championship, taking 2 wickets here and 3 there, finishing with 2 more 4-fers in the series versus the West Indies.

England’s leading bowler across the Championship, at No.4, has been now-captain Heather Knight, but it is interesting to look at the graph of her bowling, match by match, over the course of the competition:

It shows that she has been bowling less and less – especially since she took over the captaincy. My experience watching Knight captain at Berkshire for many years suggests that she tends to bowl herself when she feels they are in trouble, which they rarely have been with the ball at least over the past year or so.

Ranking = Wickets / Economy