WPL 2023: Top wicketkeeper-batters franchises will target in Feb 13 auction

WPL Player Auction 2023: Top four wicketkeeper-batters franchises will target in February 13 auction.

Richa Ghosh could fetch a handsome bid in Auction (Images: ©BCCI/Twitter)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released a list of 409 players who will go under the hammer at the first-ever Women’s Premier League (WPL) Player Auction on February 13 in Mumbai.

Here is the list of wicketkeepers who could be roped in by the teams in the auction.

Amy Jones

After one of England’s most successful cricketers Sarah Taylor, announced her retirement, Amy Jones came in to fill her shoes as a wicketkeeper. It seemed a difficult task, but the 29-year-old did it with ease. She made it to the 2012 World T20 squad but didn’t get a chance to play her debut match. In the 2013 World Cup, she played her debut match and scored 41 runs against Sri Lanka.

Jones has the record for most catches in an innings in Test matches. The wicketkeeper caught six batters in the first innings against Australia during the Ashes series in 2022. In 81 innings that she has played, she has 32 catches and 31 stumpings to her name.

Apart from being a magnificent wicketkeeper, she is a terrific batter as well. In 81 matches, she has scored 1149 runs with a strike rate of 119.19.

The plus point with her is that she can be used as a captain as well because when England’s captain Natalie Sciver-Brunt announced that she is taking a break from cricket to concentrate on her mental health, Jones was assigned the duty. She did have a very good tenure as a captain.

Batting & Fielding

Mat	Runs	Ave	HS	SR	Ct/St	50s/100s
81	1149	21.27	89	119.19	32/31	5/0

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Healy one of the safest keepers and destructive batters (Images: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Alyssa Healy

Alyssa Healy’s start in international cricket was not like what she might have imagined, but she turned herself into the most destructive batter in the world, especially during death overs. She is probably the finest attacker with a potent lofted on-drive in the game and once she is in form, any kind of bowling attack crumbles in front of her.

In October 2019, her unbeaten 148 runs in 61 balls set a new record for the biggest T20I innings against Sri Lanka. On 8 March 2020, she recorded the fastest 50 runs off 30 balls in the history of ICC event finals across formats.

As a wicketkeeper, she has golden gloves, which puts her in the top league of wicketkeepers in women’s cricket. In her T20I women’s cricket career, with 55 stumpings she holds a record for most stumpings. Apart from this, she also holds the record for most dismissals (107) and most catches (52).

Batting & Fielding

Mat	Runs	Ave	HS	SR	Ct/St	50s/100s
136	2300	23.78	148*	127.91	52/55	12/1

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Beth Mooney

Beth Mooney has been one of the most consistent wicketkeeper-batters for Australia over the last few years in T20Is. She exhibits versatility that enables her to take any role in the batting order while also donning the gloves.

With a strike rate of more than 125, she has scored 2144 runs in 72 innings. It includes 15 half-centuries and two centuries. Her powerful batting against England in the Ashes series in 2017 came to the fore when she scored an unbeaten 117 runs off 70 balls, consisting of 19 fours and one six. She is the fastest woman cricketer to score 2000 runs in 67 matches.

Mooney along with Alyssa Healy had an opening partnership of 151 runs, the highest partnership for Australia Women for any wicket in a WT20I match. She has been a significant contributor to Australia’s gold medal-winning Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign and their triumph at the T20 World Cup in 2020.

Beth Mooney has recently received the Belinda Clark Award as Australia's best female cricketer and was named Women's ODI Player of the Year in 2022.

Batting & Fielding

Mat	Runs	Ave	HS	SR	Ct/St	50s/100s
77	2144	38.98	117*	125.3	33/2	15/2

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Richa Ghosh

Richa Ghosh is another teenage sensation from Siliguri in West Bengal who plays for India Women as a wicketkeeper-batter. She has just played 30 T20I and 17 ODIs, and she has established herself as a finisher. She can keep wickets, bat and also bowl medium pace.

At the age of 11 years, she made it to the U-19 Bengal team, and at 12 she made her way into the U-23 team. At 16, she played the World Cup final for India in front of 86,124 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

The teenaged keeper-batter has contributed with the bat and behind the stumps to assist India win the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup. In 25 innings, she has 10 catches and 15 stumpings to her name. She has established herself as Mahendra Singh Dhoni of women's cricket with some good performances both in front and behind the wicket.

Batting & Fielding

Mat	Runs	Ave	HS	SR	Ct/St	50s/100s
30	427	22.47	44	134.27	10/15	0/0

Viacom18 secured the media rights of WPL for a whopping price of INR 951 Crores (USD 116.7 million approx) for the next five years (2023-2027). This made the WPL the second-most expensive women’s league in the world after the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

BCCI has confirmed that the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League is set to be played from March 4 to 26, 2023 in Mumbai at the Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium.

Read More: India outplay England to win inaugural Women's U-19 T20 World Cup in South Africa