26-01-2025
- Sport
- Int'l Cricket Council
All-rounder rises ranks to win ICC Emerging Women's Cricketer of the Year award
Promising South Africa star Annerie Dercksen has been named as the ICC Emerging Women's Cricketer of the Year for 2024, beating a tough field to win the prestigious honour.
Dercksen, wore the green and golds for the first-ever time in January 2023 during the T20I triangular series featuring India and West Indies, and has never looked back.
While the 23-year-old featured in five T20Is in her initial year, the all-rounder established herself in international cricket in 2024, in a year in which she also made her Test and ODI debuts.
If 2023 was the year of testing the waters, the all-rounder opened up in full flow in 2024, making a big impact in the international arena.
Dercksen demonstrated composure with the willow, showcasing an ability to both reconstruct an innings and to guide a chase should the situation demand. Among her contributions was a stabilising 27 in South Africa's only victory of the limited-overs leg of the series against England late in 2024.
With the ball, the medium pacer picked up 11 scalps, underlining her potential as a true all-rounder.
Dercksen was part of South Africa's stellar campaign in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024, during which the Proteas managed to reach the final before falling short against New Zealand.
Dercksen maintained a healthy average of 32.2 in T20Is and salvaged South Africa from several difficult situations, while also showing the ability to pick pace despite floating in lower-order positions at the start of the year before being drafted into the middle-order towards the end.
She also picked up five wickets in the format, including a career-best 2/5 against Sri Lanka during South Africa's comprehensive win at home in March.
Dercksen's bowling shone further in the longer white-ball format, where she delivered with a career-best 3/16 during South Africa's win against England in the first ODI.
A similar story continued in Tests, during tough contests against India and England. Dercksen's best was 41 in Bloemfontein, during which she helped rebuild the innings with a 92-run stand for the second wicket.
