“Records are meant to be broken. I was 16 then. Glad it’s finally broken. Many congratulations to Amy and I hope it is a start of many great things for her. Wishing her the best.” This was the ever-sporting Mithali Raj’s response when her long-standing record of being the youngest batswoman to score a One Day International hundred was broken by the Irish teenager, Amy Hunter. Mithali Raj was 16 years and 205 days old when she set the record, ironically against Ireland, with an unbeaten knock of 114 runs. Amy Hunter scored an unbeaten 121 runs off just 127 deliveries in the fourth ODI against Zimbabwe on a day when she turned sixteen to erase Mithali’s record by 205 days.
Amy’s performance was all the more creditable as the achievement came away from home in Harare. In men’s cricket, Shahid Afridi of Pakistan was 16 years and 217 days old when he scored 102 runs against Sri Lanka in 1996, to become the youngest-ever batsman to score an ODI hundred. Thus, Amy Hunter’s achievement becomes the best ever by any cricket player, male or female.
Coming in at No. 3, Amy added 140 runs for the second wicket and 143 runs for the third wicket. It was a day of yet another record for Amy Hunter as in scoring 121 runs she surpassed the 21-year-old record of Karen Young who till that date had been the highest ever individual scorer in Women’s ODI for Ireland. In fact, it was after 21 years that any Irish lady had scored a century in ODIS.
The occasion when the sixteen year-old set a new record was almost unconceivable for the achiever. In Amy’s own words, “I was very excited to go out there and reach 50. I was pumped up with Captain Laura Delany in the middle… I did not know whether to keep wearing my helmet or take it off when I reached the 100. It was great to score on my birthday.”
A year earlier, in 2010, Amy Hunter had been named in the Irish squad to play against Scotland but the matches were called off due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Her debut against Zimbabwe, therefore, was a foregone conclusion but her continued inclusion in the first eleven of the Irish team was, definitely surprising as she had poor individual scores of 2, 1 and 4 in the first three ODIs. However, she did prove in the fourth ODI that the continuing faith reposed in her was not without cause.
Born in Dublin on 11 October 2005, Amy took to cricket at the age of seven. It will be of interest to all Indian readers to know that after her initial training at the Northern Cricket Union, the latter part of her cricket training was at the Shapoorji Pallonji Cricket Academy in Ireland. Amy started playing initially for the Under-11 Boys’ team before playing for the Under-15 and Under-17 Girls’ team.
Amy’s initial success in the women’s teams was more as a bowler but she established herself soon as a hard-hitting batswoman. Her entry into the national team was more a matter of luck as Shauna Kavanagh failed the Covid test and Amy came in as her replacement.
Though it may be too early to compare but Amy Hunter’s initial career seems to have a close resemblance to our country’s Shefali Verma; both started playing with the boys and then emerged as hard hitting batswomen. The only difference between the two, however, is that while Amy has registered her first international hundred in only her fourth international appearance, Shefali despite 36 international appearances has yet to score an international three figure innings. ER “ART However, there is no denying that both these teenagers have a great career ahead and are set to enthral millions of cricket fans with their hard-hitting style of batting.
Credit : Gp Capt Achchyut Kumar (The Teenager Today)
Picture Credit : Google
