Can Other Teams Finally Match Australia's Dominance in Women's Cricket?

30 Sep, 2025 | 04:22 PM

Australia remain the team to beat in women's cricket, but recent performances suggest that the once-wide gulf between them and the rest of the world is finally beginning to narrow.

Despite winning their latest ODI series 2-1 against India, Australia's aura of invincibility appears to be waning as other top sides — especially India and England — continue to make significant strides ahead of the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup, to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka next month.

Australia Still the Benchmark

There’s no denying Australia’s remarkable record in women’s cricket. They’ve won seven of the 12 ODI World Cups, finished runners-up twice, and clinched six of nine T20 World Cups. Since lifting the 2022 World Cup in Christchurch, they’ve won 26 of 30 completed ODIs — a win-loss ratio of 6.5, far ahead of their closest rivals.

In the previous World Cup cycle (2017–2022), Australia boasted an even more staggering win-loss ratio of 15.5. However, a closer look at recent results shows the dominance may be flattening out.

Their only bilateral ODI series defeat since 2014 came against England in the 2023 Women’s Ashes. They've also suffered some of their heaviest ODI defeats in history over the past two years, including a record 102-run loss, and recently conceded 369 runs to India — the highest second-innings total ever recorded in women’s ODIs.

Statistical Shift: The Gap is Narrowing

Comparative statistics from the previous and current World Cup cycles show that teams like India, England, and South Africa have caught up — not necessarily because Australia have regressed, but because others have improved significantly.

Post-2022 Batting & Bowling Comparison (Top Teams)

Metric	Australia	India	England
Batting Average	38.79	38.96	38.10
Batting Strike Rate	91.73	88.23	92.96
Balls/Boundary	8.37	9.65	8.88
Bowling Average	22.19	30.63	23.41
Bowling Strike Rate	29.4	34.2	29.7

India and England now either match or outperform Australia in batting average and strike rates, two key indicators of dominance in modern ODI cricket. England, in particular, have a higher strike rate than Australia, while India’s improved consistency has pushed their batting average slightly higher.

Team Improvements Since 2017

India, South Africa, and England have seen the sharpest improvement since the previous cycle:

India: ODI batting average jumped from 28.52 to 33.72, strike rate from 71.17 to 88.23.
South Africa: Jumped from 29.1 to 32.0 average and improved from 70.36 to 82.31 strike rate.
England: Strike rate climbed from 76.72 to 90.48.

Australia, on the other hand, have had a dip in batting average from 39.98 to 35.53, though their strike rate has increased from 86.72 to 91.99.

The number of centuries scored tells a similar story:

India moved from 4 (2017–22) to 15 (2022–25)
South Africa: 4 to 17
England: 9 to 13

Australia, meanwhile, have recorded 10 centuries in the current cycle — just one less than their previous tally, but relatively flat in comparison.

Concerns Over Healy’s Form and Senior Contributions

One area of concern for Australia is the dip in form of captain Alyssa Healy. From 2017 to 2022, Healy was among the most dominant batters in the world, scoring 1635 runs at 52.74 with a strike rate of 101.8. Since then, her average has dropped to 27.17, with only 625 runs in 23 innings.

During this time, Healy has failed to last past the 10-over mark in 16 innings, raising questions about her role at the top.

In contrast, India’s Smriti Mandhana and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt have emerged as consistent centurions and anchors for their respective sides.

Young Blood Filling the Gaps

To their credit, Australia have successfully phased in new talent. Phoebe Litchfield, Annabel Sutherland, and Georgia Voll have stepped up to fill the void left by Rachel Haynes and Meg Lanning. However, with fewer senior batters in the ICC’s top run-scorers list, there’s increased pressure on the newcomers to deliver in crunch moments.

Run-Heavy World Cup Expected

The 2025 Women’s World Cup is expected to be a high-scoring affair, much like the 2023 Men’s World Cup, which saw record-breaking totals in India.

The average first-innings score in Indian conditions post-2022 is a massive 292, well ahead of the next best, South Africa (237). Australia are scheduled to play two group games in Sri Lanka — where the average first-innings score is a modest 225 — which may give them an edge early in the tournament.

However, tighter competition and narrow win margins could play a crucial role in determining not just the semi-finalists but the all-important top-four seedings.

Challengers Growing in Confidence

England, who beat Australia 2-1 in the 2023 Ashes ODIs, and India, who recently pushed the defending champions hard, have shown that Australia are no longer untouchable.

While Australia still possess depth, experience, and pedigree, the rest of the field has finally caught up. Should one of them topple the champions in October or early November, it may no longer be considered an upset — just the new normal.