Alex Blackwell (cricketer)

Alex Blackwell

Personal information
Full name	Alexandra Joy Blackwell
Born	(1983-08-31) 31 August 1983 (age 33) Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm medium
Relations	Kate Blackwell (twin sister)
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 142)	15 February 2003 v England
Last Test	11 August 2015 v England
ODI debut (cap 97)	29 January 2003 v England
Last ODI	27 July 2015 v England
ODI shirt no.	2
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2001–present	New South Wales
2008	Berkshire
2006–07	Otago Sparks
Career statistics
Competition WTest WODI WT20I WNCL Matches 11 116 79 111 Runs scored 438 2697 1113 3517 Batting average 23.05 33.29 20.23 44.51 100s/50s 0/4 2/19 0/1 4/16 Top score 74 106* 61 157 Balls bowled 72 132 6 288 Wickets 0 6 0 2 Bowling average – 10.50 – 114.50 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 n/a n/a n/a Best bowling – 2/8 – 1/14 Catches/stumpings 5/– 42/– 27/– 43/–
Source: CricketArchive, 2 September 2015

Alexandra Joy Blackwell (born 31 August 1983) is a professional cricketer who plays for New South Wales and Australia as a specialist batsman. Her identical twin sister Kate has also played for Australia.

Blackwell made her senior debut for New South Wales in the 2001–02 Women's National Cricket League (WNCL). Playing in the middle-order she had little to do as the opposition bowlers struggled to penetrate the New South Wales batting line-up. Blackwell made 33 runs at 33.00 in her debut season as New South Wales won the WNCL. The following season, she batted higher up the order and made 212 runs at 30.28, and was selected for the national team at the end of the season with a WNCL career total of only 245 runs. Making her international debut in 2002–03 in a quadrangular One Day International (ODI) tournament, she had few opportunities with the bat, scoring 54 runs at 27.00 but was unexpectedly successful with the ball, taking a total of 4/34 despite only having one previous wicket at senior level. She made her Test debut in a two-match series against England immediately afterwards, hitting a half-century in the latter fixture. Alex Blackwell is the 142nd woman to play Test cricket for Australia.

Over the next two years, Blackwell was inconsistent at international level and was in and out of the team due to poor performance. However, she was able to maintain her position for the 2005 World Cup in South Africa, playing in all but one match as Australia won the tournament without a loss. Playing in the middle-order, she was not required to bat often as the opposition rarely broke through the Australian batting, making 67 runs at 33.50. Her 53 against New Zealand was her first half-century in ODIs. However, Blackwell made only 48 from four Test innings during the subsequent tour of England and was unable to cement her place in the Australian team. Blackwell had a prolific 2005–06 WNCL season, scoring 411 runs including her maiden century, but was unable to translate her good domestic form into results for Australia, making only 83 runs in four innings against India at the end of the season.