Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick was the fastest bowler in women’s cricket in the 1990s and 2000s. For more than a decade and a half, Fitzpatrick has calmly led Australia’s pace attack and even reached threatening speeds in the late 30’s.
Born in Melbourne, Fitzpatrick made her international debut as a 22-year-old in the Adelaide Test against India in 1991 and played the same opponent 15 years later in her last test at the same venue. She appeared in 109 ODIs and 13 tests between 1993 and 2007, and even got a taste of the shortest format with two T20Is before retiring in May 2007.
In June 2005, she became the first bowler to reach the milestone of 150 ODI gates. Bowling at over 75 mph, even in the final stages of her career, she ended up being the most successful 180-goal ODI bowler before being topped by Jhulan Goswami of India in 2017.
Two-time @cricketworldcup winner 🏆 🏆
— ICC (@ICC) July 18, 2019
Second highest women's ODI wicket-taker in history 👆
Spent 2,113 days as the world's number one ranked ODI bowler 😮
Congratulations to Cathryn Fitzpatrick on her induction into the ICC Hall of Fame!#ICCHallOfFame pic.twitter.com/2Qes3L1d8k
Their record of 60 Test Portals is the second best of an Australian, behind Betty Wilson’s 68 layoffs. Her miserable thriftiness of 1.91 underscores her clout with the new ball, while her six four-wicket moves and two five-fors in just 24 test innings underlined her ability to go through all the lineups single-handedly.
She has won three five-star ODIs, the last of which came in 2006, maintaining an enviable $ 3.01 career economy.
She was named 2004 International Cricket Player of the Year at the Allan Border Awards. Even at 39, Fitzpatrick’s speed did not diminish as she finished her last ODI with numbers of 2/27 in ten overs, also made a run-out and scored two catches in the field against New Zealand.
After completing international cricket, she stayed close to the game and soon ventured to practice. After her coaching course at the Cricket Australia Center of Excellence in Brisbane, she was named Deputy Head Coach of Australia two months after she retired.
She continued her contribution to Australia’s success as a coach. As part of her full-time employment, the team won the 2013 World Cup and the T20 World Championships in 2012 and 2014.
Earlier this year, she was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame with Dean Jones and Billy Murdoch.
