Upstox Greatest Players: The all-round brilliance of Carole Hodges

In the ICC’s Upstox Greatest Players series, we look at some of the best performers in the history of the tournament.

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England’s Carole Hodges is arguably the greatest all-rounder in the history of the tournament.

The right-handed batter and right-arm off-spinner played 24 Women’s World Cup matches in her career, finishing on the ultimate high as she helped lift the trophy in what proved to be her last international game in the final of the 1993 tournament.

Hodges played 47 ODI matches for England in her 11-year international career, during which she hit over a thousand runs including two centuries and picked up 58 wickets at an average of 15.06.

And the all-rounder enjoyed an impressive Test career too, playing 18 Tests in all. Her bowling provided outstanding control, going for just 1.59 per over with her 23 wickets coming at 29.47. But it was with the bat where she excelled in the longer format, scoring 1164 runs at an average of 40.13.

WORLD CUP RECORD

It was at World Cups where Hodges really separated herself from the rest, confirming her class as one of the game’s great all-rounders.

Prior to the 2022 edition of the tournament, only legendary Australian spinner Lyn Fullston has taken more career wickets at Women’s World Cups than Hodges’ 37.

Her scalps came at an average of 14.86 with a miserly economy of 2.35, marking her out as one of the tournament’s best players for her spin alone.

But Hodges also made a significant mark on the event with the bat, scoring 672 runs at an average of 39.52 in her 20 World Cup innings. That impressive tally puts her at number 12 in the list of all-time Women’s World Cup run-scorers.

STAND-OUT PERFORMANCE

Hodges stroker a patient 45 and sent down five tidy overs as England beat New Zealand in the World Cup Final at Lord’s in 1993.

But her star individual moment came earlier in that tournament in England’s first match against Denmark.

With England defending a sizeable total of 286/3, Hodges bamboozled the Danes in a 4.5-over spell that went for just three runs and returned four wickets.

The final three of those wickets, and the final three of the Denmark innings, fell in consecutive deliveries as Hodges picked up the first ever hat-trick in WODI cricket.