• Esha Oza  named the ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year for 2022.
• The 35-year-old all-rounder scored nearly 700 runs in only 23 innings last year.
• Oza accomplished this despite playing 16 different opponents.

Esha Oza, an all-rounder for the United Arab Emirates, has been awarded the ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year for 2022.

“Lighting up scoreboards with her bat and offering great support with her off-spin, the winner of the Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year was a revelation in 2022,” said the International Cricket Council (ICC) in a media statement on Wednesday.

Last year, at the age of 35.52, Oza scored 675 T20I runs, including two centuries and two fifties, while maintaining a strike rate of 134.19. She also grabbed 15 T20I wickets with an economy of 4.84 and an average of 15.40.

“Prior to 2022, Oza had only 463 T20I runs with a strike rate of 100.43 and a strike rate of 23.15. In 2022, the right-hander stepped it up a level, scoring nearly 700 runs in only 23 innings. Oza accomplished this despite playing 16 different opponents throughout the course of the year, including four contests and a bilateral series versus Hong Kong.” Read the ICC’s press release.

At the Gulf Cricket Council T20 Championship Cup, Oza began the year with scores of 28* (14) and 67 (31) against Kuwait and Oman, respectively.

However, those numbers pale in comparison to her mesmerizing 158* (71) against Bahrain the following game.

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