Most Wickets in women's test cricket

Women's Test cricket is the format of cricket played for the longest duration. It is similar to the rules and regulations followed in the men's test cricket. The Women's Test match is played in 4 days and it is mandated to bowl a minimum of 90 overs in a day. Also after every 80 overs, the captain can change the ball if it gets torn or fails the loop test. There is a similarity between Women's test cricket and Men's test cricket is that the boundaries in Women's Test cricket are relatively smaller than that of men's test cricket. The first-ever Women's test match was played in December 1934 between England women's team and Australia women's team in Brisbane and England won the match by 9 wickets. Before the upcoming test between the India Women's team and England women's team let's check out the top 10 wicket-takers in Women's test cricket who proved the value of taking wickets in every match.

1. Mary Duggan

Mary Duggan is the former captain of the England Women's test team. Before becoming the captain of the team she was a part of the quad in 1948-49 and 1957-58 tours in Australia. She was a fast-medium left-arm bowler and played for a span of about 14 years. In her last innings played before retiring she scored 101* and 32 with bowling figures of 72/7. Her contribution to the team helped England to win against Australia by 49 runs. In her entire test career, she bowled 3734 balls in 17 matches and became the highest wicket-taker in the Women's Test cricket history with 77 wickets.

Read also: Indian Women's cricket: Most Runs in Test Cricket

2. Betty Wilson

Betty Wilson was regarded as one of the greatest cricketers in women's cricket history. She was even considered as the female Bradman. Betty made her test debut against New Zealand in 1948 and showed phenomenal performance on the field. She scored 90 runs and picked up 4 wickets for 37 runs and 6 wickets for 28 runs. In her first Ashes Test, she scored 111 and picked up 9 wickets. It was her first century against England.

She refused marriage proposals quite a few times because married women were not supposed to play during those times. In her last series against England in 1957-58, she played outstandingly. She picked up 7 wickets for only 7 runs. This was the first time when a woman scored a hattrick in Test cricket history. She also showed great performance in the second innings and picked up 4 wickets for 19 runs and scored a century. The late legendary player bowled 2885 balls in 11 matches and 268 wickets

3. Diana Edulji

The former Indian Test cricketer started playing cricket at a very young age. While growing up, she practiced cricket using a tennis ball. Before entering the world of cricket, she played basketball and table tennis at the Junior National level. She made her debut in the test team in 1976 against West Indies. Diana became the captain of 1978. She created a record of bowling the most number of balls in the history of women's test cricket (5098+). In her Test career, she played a total of 20 matches and picked up 63 wickets.

4. Myrtle Maclagan

The former cricketer of the England women's test team was one of the greatest players of her time. She made her debut in 1934 against Australia. She was in the England squad in the first-ever test match between England and Australia. In 1935 she scored the first century by any woman cricketer in test cricket and made 119 against Australia. In the same test match, he created another record by becoming the first woman cricketer to open the bowling and batting in the same match. Meanwhile, she also joined the army during the war. Again she joined the cricket team and went to play Australia and New Zealand in 1948-49. Her last match was against Australia on 31st July 1951. She played 14 test matches in this year's and picked up 60 wickets in 3432 balls.

Read also: Longest career in ODI Cricket History: Mithali Raj in Elite list

5. Cathryn Fitzpatrick

The former cricketer of the Australian cricket team is considered the world's fastest bowler during her time. She was an asset in the Australian bowling lineup and has contributed a lot to the team and its victories. She played a pivotal role in helping Australia to lift the world cup in 1997 and 2005. Cathryn is the first female bowler to pick up 150 ODI wickets and she is one of those rare cricketers to play in 100 ODIs. In this span of 16 successful years, she played 13 test matches and bold 3603 balls and picked up 60 wickets.

6. Shubhangi Kulkarni

The former Indian cricketer is the 6th highest wicket-taker in the history of women's test cricket. She is also the 3rd highest run-scorer in women's test cricket. In 19 matches she picked up 60 wickets in 3320+ balls.

7. Raelee Thompson

The former captain of the Australian women's cricket team made her debut in 1972 against New Zealand. In a span of about 13 years, she played in 16 matches and picked up 57 wickets in 4304 balls.

8. Jackie Lord

Jackie Lord is a former cricketer of the New Zealand women's test team. She started playing in 1966 and played till 1979. During this years, she played in 15 matches and picked up 55 wickets in 3104 balls.

9. Enid Bakewell

Enid Bakewell is considered one of the greatest cricketers of England. She made her test debut in 1968 vs Australia. In the 1968-69 tour, she played in all the 3 tests against Australia and New Zealand. In her very first match against Australia, she scored a century. Her performance was exceptional in the test matches against New Zealand as well. She scored two centuries in the first and second tests against New Zealand. She played for the country in 12 matches and picture 50 wickets by bowling 2697 balls.

10. Debbie Wilson

The tenth cricketer on this list is Debbie Wilson of Australia. She created a record of scoring the highest individual test score by a woman cricketer while batting in the 9th position. In that match, she scored a total of 92 runs. She played in 11 test matches and pick the top 48 wickets in 2812 balls.