Player of the Month

December 1997: Belinda Clark

Highlights of Belinda Clark's December: 93 not out v South Africa, December 12 229 not out v Denmark, December 16 (world record) 52 v New Zealand, final, December 29 Player of the Series, 1997 World Cup. Belinda Clark player profile on CricInfo Related Player of the Month pages: Who missed out? The good, the bad and the ugly of December. The selection process for Players of the Month Previous Players of the Month

Who said Player of the Month was a boy's club? The major cricketing event of December, arguably the entire year, was the Womens World Cup in India. There were many fine performances throughout the competition, especially from the home team, plus England and New Zealand, but the most extraordinary achievements came from the captain of the victorious Australian side. While leading a committed and well-polished outfit to the title, she produced a number of great innings while opening the batting, none more spectacular than that against Denmark on December 16... an unprecedented 229 not out.. seventy-three runs more than the previous world record in women's one-day internationals. More significant than that, it was the first time anyone, male or female, had broken the 200 barrier in ODI's.. something Saeed Anwar just failed to achieve last May. Overall, she averaged 148.33 with the bat for the tournament. Acknowledged as the finest female batter in the world today, and demonstrated to great effect in December 1997. Our first female winner of this award - and surely not the last by a long shot - the second consecutive month that an Australian captain has graced this page. The googler's Player of the Month for December 1997 is Belinda Jane Clark.

Pictured: Belinda Clark in action v New Zealand in the Rose Bowl, 7 November 1997. Photograph: Colin Whelan. Copyright 1997 Action Photographics. Not to be reproduced without permission of the copyright holders.

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