The 1988 Women's Cricket World Cup, also known as 1988 Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup, was an international cricket tournament played in Australia from 29 November to 18 December 1988. Hosted by Australia for the first time, as part of the Bicentenary celebrations, it was the fourth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and came six years after the preceding 1982 World Cup in New Zealand.
The tournament was organised by the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC), with matches played over 60 overs. Australia won the tournament for a third consecutive time, defeating England in the final by eight wickets. New Zealand defeated Ireland in the third-place playoff, while the Netherlands, the only other team at the tournament, placed fifth and last after failing to win a single match. Both Ireland and the Netherlands were making their tournament debuts. India had been invited to compete, as they had at the previous two tournaments, but were forced to withdraw after failing to secure enough money from sponsors.Mary Boson. "A worldly ambition for the world's best" – The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 October 1988. Two Australians, Lindsay Reeler and Lyn Fullston, led the tournament in runs and wickets, respectively.Batting at Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 (ordered by runs) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.Bowling at Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 (ordered by wickets) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015. The player of the series was English all-rounder Carole Hodges, who placed third for runs scored and second for wickets taken.Carole Hodges with the Player of the Series Award – Women's Cricket History. Retrieved 29 August 2015. She received a Waterford Crystal trophy valued at A$4,000, donated by an Irish firm, R&A Bailey.Heather Smith. "Irish postie poses problem" – The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 December 1988.
Squads Batting and fielding for Australia women, Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015. Batting and fielding for England women, Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015. Batting and fielding for Ireland women, Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015. Batting and fielding for Netherlands women, Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015. Batting and fielding for New Zealand women, Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015. Lyn Larsen (c) Denise Annetts Karen Brown Ruth Buckstein Lyn Fullston Zoe Goss Sally Griffiths Belinda Haggett Sharlene Heywood Lee-Anne Hunter Christina Matthews Lindsay Reeler Kerry Saunders Sharon Tredrea Jane Powell (c) Caroline Barrs Janette Brittin Jo Chamberlain Carole Hodges Suzie Kitson Patsy Lovell Debra Maybury Lisa Nye Gillian Smith Karen Smithies Clare Taylor Janet Tedstone Wendy Watson Mary-Pat Moore (c) Donna Armstrong Susan Bray Grainne Clancy Helen Hearnden Julie Logue Anne-Marie McDonald Collette McGuinness Anne Murray Elizabeth Owens Stella Owens Sonia Reamsbottom Gwynneth Smith Janice Walsh Anita van Lier (c) Hilone Dinnissen Cornelia Eveleens Chantal Grevers Ingrid Keijzer Dorine Loman Nicola Payne Irene Schoof Isabelle van Dishoeck Babette van Teunenbroek Esther Veltman Angela Venturini Liesbeth Vernout Vanda Wesenhagen Lesley Murdoch (c) Kirsty Bond Catherine Campbell* Jackie Clark Debbie Ford Karen Gunn Debbie Hockley Sarah Illingworth Ingrid Jagersma Brigit Legg Sue Morris Jennifer Turner Nicki Turner Nancy Williams* Note: New Zealand's Nancy Williams dislocated her shoulder in one of the opening match, and was replaced by Catherine Campbell in the squad."Kiwis confident of shock result" – The Canberra Times, 7 December 1988.
Venues
Warm-up matches At least five warm-up matches were played against Australian state and invitational teams, which were interspersed throughout the tournament.Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
Group stage
Points table Team 8 7 1 0 0 28 3.630 8 6 2 0 0 24 3.097 8 5 3 0 0 20 3.418 8 2 6 0 0 8 1.965 8 0 8 0 0 0 1.695 Source: CricketArchive
Note: run rate was to be used as a tiebreaker in the case of teams finishing on an equal number of points, rather than net run rate (as is now common).Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 table – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
Matches 1st Match
2nd Match
3rd Match
4th Match
5th Match
6th Match
7th Match
8th Match
9th Match
10th Match
11th Match
12th Match
13th Match
14th Match
15th Match
16th Match
17th Match
18th Match
19th Match
20th Match
Finals
Third place play-off
Final
The final, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, was broadcast live on radio and on ABC Television."Australia's top bat sends them reeling" – The Canberra Times, 15 December 1988. It was attended by around 3,000 people, although the ground had a capacity at the time of over 90,000. Janette Brittin, who played for England in the match, later described the venue as having "wall-to-wall seating with no one sitting in them", making it "a very large and a very lonely place".Nishi Narayanan (8 March 2009). "Like watching paint dry" – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 August 2015. No women's cricket had been played there since 1949.
Statistics
Most runs The top five runscorers are included in this table, ranked by runs scored and then by batting average.
Player Team Runs Inns Avg Highest 100s 50s Lindsay Reeler 448 8 149.33 143* 2 2 Debbie Hockley 446 9 63.71 90* 0 5 Nicki Turner 342 8 42.75 114 1 1 Carole Hodges 336 9 42.00 91 0 2 Ruth Buckstein 289 7 57.80 105* 2 0 Source: CricketArchive Cricinfo
Most wickets
The top five wicket takers are listed in this table, ranked by wickets taken and then by bowling average. Player Team Overs Wkts Ave SR Econ BBI Lyn Fullston 86.1 16 11.87 32.31 2.20 5/28 Karen Brown 87.0 12 10.83 43.50 1.49 4/4 Carole Hodges 83.0 12 16.08 41.50 2.32 4/14 Sharon Tredrea 90.0 11 13.27 49.09 1.62 3/9 Brigit Legg 100.2 11 14.36 54.72 1.57 3/4
Source: CricketArchive Cricinfo
References