New Delhi. Many pairs of brothers have played in international cricket, prominent among them are Chappell and Waugh brothers of Australia, Mohammed brothers of Pakistan, Ranatunga brothers of Sri Lanka and Amarnath, Pathan and Pandya brothers of India. Like the Mohammed family of Pakistan, four members of the Ranatunga family have represented the country in international cricket. Four brothers of the Mohammed family – Wazir, Hanif, Mushtaq and Sadiq played for Pakistan, similarly four brothers of the Ranatunga family – Dhammika, Arjun, Nishantha and Sanjeev played for Sri Lanka. Three brothers of the Chappell family of Australia – Ian, Greg and Trevor have shone in international cricket.
Like these pairs of brothers, pairs of sisters have also made a mark in international cricket. Since women’s cricket is not as popular as men’s cricket, these pairs of sisters did not get much discussion. Prominent among these pairs are New Zealand’s Kerr and Australia’s Blackwell sisters. Blackwell sisters-Alex and Kate have the distinction of being the first identical twins to play cricket for Australia. Their faces are so similar that it was difficult to identify them on the field. Both the sisters have been part of the Australian team in the Test against India.
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Let’s take a look at these special pairs of sisters in international cricket
The Kerr sisters of New Zealand: Amelia Kerr and Jess Kerr are important members of the current New Zealand women’s team. The interesting thing is that the elder of the two sisters, Jess (26 years), has played fewer international matches than her younger sister Amelia. 23-year-old Amelia has played 74 ODIs and 76 T20Is as a right-handed batsman and leg-break bowler. Apart from scoring 2082 runs with the help of four centuries in ODIs, she has taken 91 wickets, while in T20Is, she has 1108 runs and 73 wickets to her name. Elder sister Jess is a right-handed batsman and medium pace bowler. She has played 34 ODIs and the same number of T20Is. She has 217 runs and 43 wickets in ODIs and 131 runs and 18 wickets in T20Is.
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Blackwell sisters of Australia: Alex and Kate Blackwell have the credit of being the first identical twins to play cricket for Australia. Of the two twins, Alex made her international debut in 2003 while Kate in 2004. Alex’s career lasted for more than a decade. As a right-handed batsman, she played 12 Tests, 144 ODIs and 95 T20Is. She scored 444 runs in Test cricket, 3492 runs in ODIs and 1314 runs in T20Is. She has also scored three centuries in ODIs. Alex made headlines in 2013 by admitting to being in a lesbian relationship. She married former England cricketer Linsey Askew in 2015.
On the other hand, Kate Blackwell’s career came to an end in 2008 after only 4 Tests, 41 ODIs and 6 T20Is. She could not achieve much success in cricket. She scored 180 runs in Tests, 475 in ODIs and 119 in T20Is.
The Bryce sisters from Scotland: Kathryn and Sarah Bryce are important members of the Scotland women’s cricket team. Elder sister Kathryn has played 5 ODIs and 45 T20Is. This 26-year-old player has scored 301 runs at an average of 60.20 in ODIs and has also taken 5 wickets. In T20Is, she has scored 1197 runs at an average of 39.90 and has also taken 46 wickets. 24-year-old Sarah has scored 171 runs in 5 ODIs and 1207 runs in 54 T20Is as a wicketkeeper-batsman.
The Joyce Sisters of Ireland: The Joyce family enjoys great respect in Ireland. This family has two brothers- Ed and Dom Joyce and twin sisters. Cecelia and Isobel (Cecelia and Isobel Joyce) have also played top level cricket for Ireland. Cecelia represented Ireland in 57 ODIs and 43 T20I matches between 2001 and 2018. She scored 1172 runs in ODIs and 659 runs in T20Is. Isobel’s career (1999-2018) started before her twin sister Cecelia. Starting her international career in 1999, she played one Test, 79 ODIs and 55 T20I matches and made significant contributions as an all-rounder. Isobel, who has taken 6 wickets in Test cricket, has 995 runs and 66 wickets in ODIs and 944 runs and 33 wickets in T20Is.
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Knight Sisters of the West Indies: Among the pairs of sisters playing international cricket are West Indies twins-Kecia and Kyshona Knight (Kycia Knight and Kyshona Knight). Born in Barbados, Kyshona played 51 ODIs and 55 T20Is. This left-handed middle order batsman scored 851 runs in ODIs and 546 runs in T20Is. On the other hand, Kycia (2011-2022) played 87 ODIs and 70 T20 matches. She scored 1327 runs in ODIs and 801 runs in T20s.
Sisters Louise and Hannah of Ireland: Apart from Ireland’s Louise Little and Hannah Little, their elder brother Josh is also a member of the Ireland cricket team. The international record of both the Little sisters is very ordinary. The elder Hannah has played only 4 T20I matches so far in which she has scored only 2 runs. She could not take any wicket. On the other hand, 21-year-old Louise has played 6 ODIs and 27 T20I matches so far. She has scored 13 runs in ODIs and 58 runs in T20Is. Apart from this, Louise has taken one wicket in ODI format and two wickets in T20Is.
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The Lewis sisters of Ireland: Gaby Lewis and Robyn Lewis also played international cricket for Ireland. Elder sister Robin’s career (2015-2017) was limited to two ODIs and three T20Is. She has no significant achievements in terms of runs and wickets. Younger sister Gaby is still active in international cricket. This right-handed cricketer, who made her international debut in 2014, has played 42 ODIs and 88 T20s. She has 1175 runs and 10 wickets in ODIs and 2064 runs and 3 wickets in T20Is.
These pairs of sisters also include Netherlands’ Willing sisters – Iris and Mickey and Caesars sisters – Silver and Heather. They are still active in cricket. Elder sister Heather has played in five ODIs and 49 T20Is. She has scored 105 runs in ODIs while 794 runs in T20Is. She has also taken 18 wickets in T20 format. On the other hand, younger sister Silver has taken 7 wickets in addition to scoring 11 runs in 7 ODIs. 32 runs and 33 wickets are registered in her name in 41 T20Is. Similarly, among the Willing sisters, 24-year-old Mickey has taken 5 wickets in six T20Is. 22-year-old Iris has taken 26 wickets in 12 ODIs and 56 wickets in 57 T20Is.
Tags: womens cricket
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 13, 2024, 07:58 IST
