21 for 21: The players behind Australia’s incredible streak

Meg Lanning's Australians made history this week, equalling the record for most consecutive ODI victories set by Ricky Ponting's champion team of 2003.

Starting in India in March 2018, their 21-game winning streak has spanned seven series, six opponents and five countries, and fittingly, they used 21 players during that period.

Here, cricket.com.au runs an eye over those players, their statistics and their unique contributions to this piece of history.

Alyssa Healy

M: 21 | Inns: 21 | Runs: 1132 | SR: 108.74 | Ave: 56.6 | HS: 133 | 100s: 3 | 50s: 7 | Ct: 18 | St: 5

Healy’s impact at the top of the order through Australia’s winning streak has been truly remarkable. Averaging 15.96 from 41 innings prior to the 2017 Ashes, Healy’s move to the top of the order and mandate to take the game on has been the making of the 30-year-old.

Her maiden ODI ton came in Baroda at the start of the streak, an inspiring effort in gruelling heat in tough conditions, and she has since added two more, against West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Rachael Haynes

M: 21 | Inns: 20 | Runs: 848 | Ave: 42.4 | SR: 79.84 | HS: 118 | 100s: 1 | 50s: 6

Australia’s vice-captain has played two roles during the streak, starting in the middle order then moving to opener when Nicole Bolton took a break from the game. She made a brief return to the middle during the 2019 Ashes but has since cemented her spot at the top alongside Healy, breaking through for a long-awaited maiden one-day ton against Sri Lanka in October last year.

Beth Mooney

M: 21 | Inns: 18 | Runs: 538 | Ave: 48.9 | SR: 91.34 | HS: 66 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 3

The world’s top ranked T20I batter might be known largely for her feats at the top of the order in the shortest form of the game, but the Queenslander has played a different role in Australia’s ODI winning streak.

Slotting into the middle order, the strength of the batting above her has limited Mooney’s opportunities, but one standout knock was her fighting 43 in the second Ashes ODI of 2019, where she helped steer Australia to victory in a tricky chase.

Ashleigh Gardner 

Matches: 21 | Inns: 16 | Runs: 296 | Ave: 24.66 | SR: 123.84 | HS: 62no | 100: 0 | 50: 2

Wkts: 25 | Econ: 3.78 | Ave: 20.16 | SR: 31.9 | BBI: 3-39 | 4wi: 0

One of four players who featured in all 21 matches, Gardner continued to grow into her game throughout the streak, providing a key point of difference with her off-spin and firepower in the middle order with the bat.

The strength of the batting line-up means she has not had many opportunities to build big innings, but her hard-hitting has helped lift Australia over 300 on several occasions, including her blazing 25-ball 57no against West Indies in Antigua.

Meg Lanning

M: 19 | Inns: 19 | Runs: 857 | Ave: 57.13 | SR: 89.45 | HS: 124 | 100s: 3 | 50s: 4 

Only Healy scored more runs than the Australian captain through the 21-game streak, despite Lanning missing two games due to minor injuries.

The first series in India marked her return from major shoulder surgery and while Lanning took some time to find her best, she raised the bat later the same year against Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur. 

Another century followed almost a year later in Antigua, while her brilliant 101 not out against New Zealand earlier this week sealed win No.20.

Megan Schutt

M: 19 | Wkts: 30 | Econ: 3.71 | Ave: 19.56 | SR: 31.5 | BB: 3-17 | 4wi: 0

One of the world’s best white-ball players, in-swing bowler Schutt’s incredible consistency played a major role in her team’s record run. Forming the perfect new-ball pair with Perry and her out-swingers, she often did not pick up as many wickets as she deserved, but her sheer consistency often forced wickets at the other end. 

In Antigua against the West Indies, she became the first Australian woman to claim an ODI hat-trick.

She missed just two games through the streak, both due to ‘management’.

Jess Jonassen 

M: 18 | Wkts: 39 | Econ: 3.35 | Ave: 12.64 | SR: 22.6 | BB: 5-27 | 4wi: 4 | 5wi: 1

Left-arm orthodox allrounder Jonassen was Australia’s most prolific wicket-taker through the streak, claiming nine more wickets than her closest teammates, Schutt, despite missing the three 2018 matches against Pakistan as she recovered from a knee injury.

Her standout effort with the ball came in the first ODI against New Zealand in February 2019, where she picked up a four-wicket haul to snatch a five-run victory from the jaws of defeat, before bagging another five just two days later.

Ellyse Perry

M: 18 | Inns: 17 | Runs: 609 | Ave: 60.9 | SR: 76.41 | HS: 112no | 100s: 2 | 50s: 3 

Wkts: 26 | Econ: 4.03 | Ave: 18.8 | SR: 28 | BBI: 7-22 | 5wi: 1

Superstar allrounder Perry has been a fixture of the Australian side since 2007 but she managed to still find new levels in her game throughout the streak. Notably, she broke through for her maiden ODI century during the 2019 Rose Bowl series against New Zealand, scoring an unbeaten 107 in Adelaide, and backed it up with a second against the West Indies in Antigua.

With the ball, she made history in Canterbury during the 2019 Ashes, destroying England with a remarkable 7-22 to claim the best ODI figures by an Australian woman.

Sadly, a setback in her return from a hamstring injury suffered during the T20 World Cup prevented her taking the field during the record-equalling 2020 series against the White Ferns.

Georgia Wareham

M: 18 | Wkts: 20 | Econ: 4.17 | Ave: 28.4 | SR: 40.8 | BB: 2-18 | 4wi: 0

Debuting in Malaysia against Pakistan in 2018, leg-spinner Wareham has made herself a fixture of the Australia XI since, playing every match.

She added a new level of consistency to her game in the most recent series against New Zealand – in the first of the three matches, she bowled a remarkable 45 dot balls in her 10-over spell, for figures of 2-23.

Nicola Carey

M: 15 | Inns: 7 | Runs: 75 | Ave: 18.75 | SR: 108.69 | HS: 19 

Wkts: 11 | Econ: 4.01 | Ave: 32.09 | SR: 48 | BBI: 3-19 | 4wi: 0

Another one of Australia’s seven debutantes during the winning streak, pace-bowling allrounder Carey was handed her cap against India in Baroda ahead of win No.1.

Playing in fifteen matches since, her standout effort with the ball came against Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur where she picked up 3-19.

Nicole Bolton 

M: 9 | Inns: 9 | Runs: 242| Ave: 30.25 | SR: 75.86 | HS: 100no | 100s: 1 | 50s: 1

Former opener Bolton was the star of Australia’s opening ODI win over India in 2018 that started the streak. She scored a brilliant unbeaten ton in front of a large and vocal crowd in Baroda, the fourth ton of her career.

She played nine matches in total, missing the 2019 series against New Zealand as she focused on her mental health, before returning for the Ashes several months later. Unfortunately for the left-handed West Australian, it was a campaign to forget as she scored seven runs in three one-dayers.

Sophie Molineux

M: 6 | Inns: 5 | Runs: 61 | Ave: 15.25 | SR: 84.72 | HS: 26 

Wkts: 12 | Econ: 2.56 | Ave: 9.83 | SR: 23 | BBI: 4-14 | 4wi: 1

Left-arm orthodox allrounder Molineux made her debut against Pakistan in 2018 and wasted no time making her mark. She took six wickets at 6.5, and leaked just 1.5 runs per over as the hosts struggled to find a way to combat her spin. 

A serious shoulder injury meant she missed subsequent series against New Zealand, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka but when she did finally return to the 50-over game almost two years later, she picked up where she left off, taking six wickets at 13.16 against the White Ferns.

Tayla Vlaeminck

M: 6 | Wkts: 6 | Econ: 3.87 | Ave: 25.83 | SR: 40 | BB: 2-14 | 4wi: 0

The speedster played six matches through the streak, against Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka, and it is safe to say that if not for a series of injuries, she would have played a much larger role. 

Her recovery from a knee injury prevented her taking the field against New Zealand in early 2019 and during the ODI leg of the Ashes, while the serious foot injury that ended her T20 World Cup hopes in February meant she played no part in the 2020 Rose Bowl series.

Delissa Kimmince

M: 5 | Wkts: 7 | Econ: 4.01 | Ave: 13.57 | SR: 20.2 | BB: 5-26 | 5wi: 1

Allrounder Kimmince played her first one-day international since 2014 in the opening Ashes match in Leicester and made an immediate impact, collecting 5-26.

Various injury problems and the tough battle for spots in Australia’s bowling attack have limited the Queenslander to five matches throughout the streak, but she remains a fixture of Australia’s ODI squad.

Annabel Sutherland

M: 3 | Inns: 2 | Runs: 52 | Ave: 26 | SR: 60.46 | HS: 35 

Wkts: 2 | Econ: 4.86 | Ave: 36.5| SR: 45 | BBI: 1-16

Talked up by her teammates after a her first full preseason in Victoria, teenage allrounder Annabel Sutherland made her debut for win No.19, against New Zealand in Brisbane. She took the new ball alongside Megan Schutt in place of Ellyse Perry and if she felt any pressure, it barely showed as she collected the scalp of former White Ferns skipper Amy Satterthwaite.

Sutherland played all three matches, and became the youngest ever No.3 batter for Australia’s women in the third match when she was promoted in Lanning’s absence – showing exactly how highly she is rated by the Australian brains trust.

Elyse Villani

M: 3 | Inns: 2 | Runs: 18 | Ave: 9 | SR: 66.66 | HS: 18

In and out of Australian ODI squads since her debut in 2014, Villani reclaimed her spot in the Australia XI for the 2019 series against New Zealand, moving into the middle-order when a spot became available due to the absence of Bolton at the top. 

However, she again fell out of favour with selectors thereafter, unable to break into the playing XI throughout the subsequent Ashes series in the UK.

Amanda-Jade Wellington 

M: 3 | Wkts: 5 | Econ: 5.23 | Ave: 13.60 | SR: 15.6 | BB: 3-24 | 4wi: 0

Leg-spinner Wellington was part of the Australian squad for the 2018 tour of India that started the streak, playing all three matches in Baroda. She picked up five wickets across the series but lost her spot to then-teenage leggie Wareham later the same year.

Lauren Cheatle

M: 2 | Wkts: 0 | Econ: 5.14 | Ave: - | SR: - | BB: - | 4wi: 0

The left-arm quick made her international return for the 2019 home ODI series against New Zealand, a hard-fought comeback after a series of shoulder injuries.

She played two matches against the White Ferns but went wicketless before missing a spot on the tour of the United Kingdom that followed.  

Erin Burns

M: 1 | Wkts: 0 | Econ: 3.62 | Ave: - | SR: - | BB: - | 4wi: 0

New South Wales’ allrounder Erin Burns introduction to international cricket could hardly have been more dramatic. Part of Australia’s touring squad in the Caribbean in September 2019, she expected to be carrying the drinks in the second match in Antigua – only to be tapped on the shoulder minutes before the toss and informed that Lanning was a late scratching with a sore back, and she would be making her debut. A cap presentation was hastily held, and Burns became Australia’s 141st ODI player.

Heather Graham

M: 1 | Wkts: 1 | Econ: 3.62 | Ave: 29.00 | SR: 48.0 | BB: 1-29 | 4wi: 0

After carrying drinks around the Caribbean and through the start of a home series against Sri Lanka, Western Australia allrounder Heather Graham got her opportunity in the Australian team in the second ODI at Allan Border Field in 2019.

Her chance came when Schutt was ‘managed’ during a compact series, and while Graham did not get a chance to bat in a dominant win for Australia, she did claim a maiden international wicket when she had Achini Kulasuriya caught behind.

Tahlia McGrath

M: 1 | Inns: 1 | Runs: 29 | Ave: - | SR: 263.63 | HS: 29no

McGrath became player No.21 as she was called into the Australia XI in place of injured captain Meg Lanning for the record-equalling 21st win against New Zealand.

It was her first appearance in the Australian team since the 2017 Ashes and she entered the fray late in Australia’s batting innings, but made the most of a brief opportunity to show off the improvements she had made to her batting game, smacking 29 from 11 deliveries.

Her services with the ball were not required as New Zealand were rolled for 93.