Sarah Andrews

Sarah Joy Andrews (born 26 December 1981) is a retired female cricketer who played for Australia from 2006 to early 2010. She was a right-arm fast bowler and a right-handed lower-order batsman.

After playing in the Second XI in 2000–01, Andrews made her debut for New South Wales in the 2001–02 Women's National Cricket League (WNCL). In her debut season, she was dropped multiple times and not given much of a workload with the ball. She took five wickets and was omitted for the first half of the next season before ending with six wickets despite never bowling a full quota of overs. At the end of the summer, she was selected for the Australian Under-23 team.

In 2003–04, Andrews played a full season for the first time and took seven wickets. In the second final against Victoria, she bowled a full quota of overs for the first time, in her 21st match. On an Under-23 tour of Sri Lanka, she made her first-class debut against the hosts' senior team, taking four wickets. Andrews had a poor 2004–05 WNCL, taking only five wickets, and then started the following season poorly, taking only three wickets in the first six matches. She took career-best figures of 5/16 and followed it with 3/45 the next day, both against Victoria. She then took 3/32 in the first final against Queensland and ended with five for the finals series as New South Wales won the first of five consecutive titles.

Andrews ended with 16 wickets for the tournament and was rewarded with selection for the national team, making her Test and One Day International (ODI) debut at the end of the season against India. She took 2/48 on her Test debut and 3/21 in her first ODI. After taking ten wickets in her first six ODIs, Andrews took 15 wickets in New South Wales' 2006–07 WNCL win. She struggled during a quadrangular series on the spin-friendly pitches of India and was used only sporadically, taking three wickets in four matches, but returned to form in the home Rose Bowl series against New Zealand, taking nine wickets in five matches. In 2007–08, Andrews was in and out of the Australian team and played in six ODIs, taking seven wickets. She was then dropped for the home series against India at the start of the 2008–09 season and was responded by taking 13 wickets in the WNCL to earn a recall. Andrews made sporadic appearances in the Rose Bowl series ahead of the 2009 World Cup, in which she played in four of Australia's seven matches, taking five wickets as Australia came fourth. She was selected for the 2009 World Twenty20 in England, and played in all of Australia's four matches, taking two wickets. In the subsequent bilateral series hosted by England, Andrews took her career best figures of 4/50 and ended with eight ODI wickets.

Andrews took 14 wickets in the 2009–10 WNCL as New South Wales won again, and in the following Rose Bowl series, she bowed out of competitive cricket with ten wickets in seven ODIs as Australia swept the series.

Early career

In January 2000, Andrews played for New South Wales in Under-19 interstate championships. She took 11 wickets at 6.00, with a best of 4/13 in the qualifying match against Victoria. New South Wales won all of their seven matches, defeating Victoria in the final. New South Wales' batting was rarely challenged by their outclassed opposition, so Andrews was only required to bat three times in the lower-order, scoring 15 runs at 7.50. She also took six catches.

Domestic debut

Andrews made her senior debut for New South Wales in the 2001–02 Women's National Cricket League, playing in seven matches, all of which ended in victory. Although she was a specialist bowler who batted at the end of the tail and was never required in matches during the season, she was not entrusted with a substantial workload with the ball, sending down an average of only four overs per match. She took 0/10 from five overs in her debut against South Australia, before taking her maiden wickets in the second match of the double-header, claiming 2/7 from three overs. She took only one wicket in the next two matches against Queensland and was dropped for the double-header against Western Australia, before being recalled for the last two round-robin matches against Victoria. She did not bowl in the first, and took 1/17 from six overs in the next. The two teams met again in the finals series, and Andrews was dropped for the first match, before being recalled and taking 1/16 from four overs in the next match as New South Wales won their sixth title in a row with a 2–0 triumph. sealing the WNCL title. Andrews ended with 20 runs at 10.00 and 16 wickets at 18.81 at an economy rate of 3.48. Opening the bowling with Cathryn Fitzpatrick, she took 2/29 from nine overs in the first innings. She had opener Monica Sumra caught by Karen Rolton in her second over, and then trapped the other opener Karu Jain for 21 to leave the Indians at 2/41. In the following over, without further addition to the score, Andrews took her maiden Test catch to dismiss leading Indian batsman and captain Mithali Raj from the bowling of Fitzpatrick. The Indians eventually collapsed to be all out for 93. Australia enforced the follow on and Andrews took 0/19 from 17 overs and caught Sunetra Paranjpe in the second innings as the tourists lost by an innings. She then took 3/21 from six overs to help secure a 12-run win. In the next match she took 1/33 in a nine-wicket win and ended the series with four wickets at 13.50 and an economy rate of 3.33. and the 106th woman to play One Day International cricket for Australia.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Andrews made her Twenty20 international debut against New Zealand at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane, having never played in the format at domestic level. She was attacked by the opposition batsmen, ending with 1/42 from four overs in a tied match. The rest of the Australians conceded their runs at 6.18 per over. After missing the first ODI, she returned to take two wickets in each of the next three matches before going wicketless in the fifth match. She ended with six wickets at 24.50 at the relatively high economy rate of 4.59; Australia won all of the last four matches.

In July 2007, Australia hosted New Zealand in a Rose Bowl series in the middle of the southern hemisphere winter by staging the matches in the tropical northern city of Darwin. Andrews had another expensive spell in the one-off T20 international, conceding 37 from her four overs while her colleagues averaged 4.37 runs per over. However, she was on hand in the run-chase scoring one not out as Australia reached the target with one wicket in hand. In the next ODI she took 3/23, including five maidens in ten overs, helping to restrict New Zealand to 8/187 and setting up a six-wicket win. She scored an unbeaten 11 and took 2/34 in the next match to help guide the Australians to a two-run win, taking an unassailable 3–1 series lead. She took 2/29 in a four-wicket win in the next match, ending the series with nine wickets at 15.11 and an economy rate of 3.16 and scored 31 runs at 15.50,

The Australians then travelled to New Zealand for the Rose Bowl series held at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln. In the solitary T20 match, she scored 10 not out as Australia managed only 9/80 and took 0/15 from four overs in a four-wicket defeat. It was the first time in four T20 internationals that she had conceded less than 6.50 runs per over. She then made 4 not out as Australia were bowled out for 231 to set the hosts a target of 273 before the match was drawn. New Zealand won all five T20s.