Dear CricAnsys readers, let us start today's story with a forgotten hero. The reason, I call him forgotten, is because, I do not expect most of my readers to be acquainted with a 1970s school headmaster from Wellington, New Zealand, Mr. Bruce Alexander Grenfell Murray. Yes, this school master played a bit of cricket, and even went on to represent his country, but his international records are nothing close to stellar. As an opening batsman, he scored 598 runs from 13 test matches, an extremely average record at international level. But, the reason , I bring him up today, is that he came out in the open, to criticise professional level cricket in the early 1970s, stating that professional cricket made players more self centred and less of team-men. He even went on to say, that the notion of professional sports is an oxymoron, as it wasn't sport. It hardened players big time and made them selfish & narrow minded, in their views of the world.
So, why have I brought him up in today's discussion? Because the central character of today's story, is the grand daughter of Mr. Bruce Murray. It is the biggest irony, that the man, who questioned the existence of professional cricket itself, around 5 decades back, had his own granddaughter shoot to fame, in her teenage years, courtesy professional cricket. Annelia Kerr, the granddaughter of Mr. Bruce Murray, made her name, in junior level cricket, as a talented leggie. Even after making her debut in international cricket, at the fag end of 2016, she exhibited consistent ability to choke oppositions, by picking wickets in the middle overs, both against Pakistan and the trans-Tasmanian rivals, Australia, in her initial matches. But her batting skills, were never something the experts spoke about. And then, one fine morning at Dublin, the experienced New Zealand captain, Suzie Baits, sensed an opportunity and sent this teenaged lady out to open the innings, against Ireland. And as they say, "Great are those, who rise to the occasion". Amelia, the giant of a heart in the body of a 17 year old kid, was no different. She carried her bat, through out the innings and in the process, recorded the only second double century ever, in women's cricket history. The Australian Legend Belinda Clarke, was the only one in this club, till date, as she had recorded her double hundred (229) against Denmark, at Mumbai in 1997. And on the 13th of June, 2018, Belinda welcomed a new entrant in this club, Miss Amelia Kerr, with all her exuberance of youth. It was almost as if, Belinda the senior statesman, had happily passed on the batton, she had held onto for 2 whole decades to the much deserving and ever so impressive Amelia Kerr. Amelia, enroute her devastating double century, also crashed the record for highest score in international women's cricket (229* by Belinda Clarke), as she cruised to 232* off just 145 deliveries. The innings was studded with 31 boundaries and a couple of massive sixes. The boundary count just emphasizes the serenity and maturity with which, this kid destroyed the opposition bowlers, because throughout the innings, she never slogged, she never lost her shape, but instead just like the experts emphasize- she timed the ball to perfection.
Right, so for the first time in international women's cricket, a teenager, came out and scored a double century and recorded the highest ever score in Women's cricket history. Mind Blowing Stuff! But is that all? Is that the only reason, cricansys has described her as the 'magnum opus' of cricket? Well no. Surely no. With the advent of more and more prodigious talent in the game of cricket and with the ever increasing popularity of the game, there stays a possibility, that this unprecedented batting record by Kerr, may also be superseded in women's cricket, in upcoming years. But, how many times, will you see, a double centurion teenager, coming back after her long innings and picking up 5 wickets? Probably never. And Kerr did just that. After her sublime 232* off 145 deliveries, she deceived the Irish batting with her accurate leggies & googlies, to pick up 5 wickets for 17 from her 7 overs. And this for sure, is going to go down as the most successful all-round performance ever recorded in the history of this game. I will not be surprised if this all-round record by Amelia is looked upon with similar reverence & equal invincibility, as the much celebrated record test batting average of Sir Don Bradman.
I will request the readers to understand the magnanimity of this situation. How many double centurions have we had in ODI cricket (Men + Women)? only 7 (5 Men Cricket + 2 Women Cricket). Only 7 in the 5 decade history of ODI cricket. So getting a double century itself is a massive milestone in an ODI. And, that player to go along with her double ton comes out to pick up 5 wickets- and to imagine a 17 year old teenager has performed this rare feat alone, is something that truly flabbergasts me. Just to put this in perspective, imagine a certain Virender Sehwag or a certain Rohit Sharma scoring a double century and coming back to take a 5 wicket haul in the same match. Can you imagine the hue & cry it would have generated? The entire sports media would have gone gaga over the performance and for weeks, there will be only pictures of the double centurion appearing in the newspaper. Sadly, that has not been the case with you dear Amelia. But that in no way undermines, what this youngster has achieved. Being an ardent cricket fan, I can vouch for it, that such a record, will be next to impossible to break, no matter how further the game proceeds in future.
Amelia Kerr- you have won me over as your fan at a very young age- you have rendered me speechless with your mature all round performance, albeit against a minnow like Ireland. I hope to see, much much more of you, in the coming decade, and I will wait for that day, when your name will be pronounced alongside the likes of Ellyse Perry, Peggy Antonio, Shantha Rangaswamy, Mithali Raj and other legends of women's cricket.
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