Bowling Ranking = Wickets / Economy

If there was one bright spot for England in a pretty miserable series it was the class of Sophie Ecclestone, who topped the bowling rankings taking 13 wickets at an Economy Rate of just 3.69 runs per over. Ecclestone worked harder than anyone else in the series – bowling 92 overs, of which 16 were maidens, and was England’s most consistent performer in a series where Australia were dominant with the bat.

As in the batting rankings, Ellyse Perry topped the headline number – talking more wickets than Ecclestone – but was ranked lower due to Ecclestone’s better Economy Rate. It is also possibly worth pointing out that if we caveated Tammy Beaumont’s batting numbers by pointing out that half her runs were scored in one innings, we should perhaps also do the same with Perry, who took 7 of her 15 wickets in that remarkable performance at Canterbury.

For all the pre-series hype about Australia’s young spinners, Georgia Wareham and Sophie Molineux, neither caused England too many problems. Wareham was expensive without having the wickets to compensate – taking just 2 wickets in 6 matches, and going at over 5 an over; while Molineux only made 3 appearances and was obviously still having problems with her shoulder, as confirmed by her subsequent withdrawal from the KSL.

Instead it was Jess Jonassen who finished the series as Australia’s leading spinner. Jonassen is only 26, but somehow already seems to qualify for the epithet of “veteran” – this was her 4th Women’s Ashes, and as well as taking 11 wickets she also scored more runs (128) than several of England’s top order batsmen, in an impressive allround performance by any normal standards – though those “normal” standards have obviously been somewhat overturned by Ellyse Perry in recent years!