Karen Rolton

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox cricketer Karen Louise Rolton (born 21 November 1974) is an Australian former cricketer and captain of the national women's team. A left-handed batter, she has scored the most runs for her country in women's Test cricket.<ref name="SouthernStars2004">Template:Cite web</ref>

International cricket

After making her international debut in 1995, Rolton went on to become a member of two successful world championship campaigns.<ref name="Cricinfo">Template:ESPNcricinfo</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> In the final of the 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup, she scored 107 not out and was adjudged Player of the Match.<ref name=":0" /> Her numerous individual honours include being named ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year in 2006 and winning the Belinda Clark Award four times.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> New Zealand coach Steve Jenkin once remarked that the best tactic against her was to avoid dismissing the Australian team's openers so she could not bat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2006, Rolton became the captain of the national team, taking over from Belinda Clark.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She led Australia in the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup on home soil, although the team performed below expectations and finished in fourth place.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Records and statistics

Across 14 Test matches, Rolton scored 1,002 runs at an average of 55.66 which included two centuries and five half-centuries. She made her top score of 209 not out against England at Headingley in 2001, a world record at the time.<ref name="SouthernStars2004"/> She also scored 4,814 runs at 48.14 in Women's One Day Internationals.<ref name="Cricinfo" /> Rolton became the first player to score a century in the knockout stage of a Women's Cricket World Cup and set a record for the highest individual score on debut in Women's Twenty20 Internationals with 96 not out.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition to her batting prowess, she enjoyed success as a left-arm medium-pace bowler, taking 102 international wickets across all three formats.<ref name="Cricinfo" />

International centuries

Test centuries<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

No.	Runs	Opponents	City/Country	Venue	Year
1	176 not out	Template:Crw	Worcester, England	New Road	1998<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2	209 not out	Template:Crw	Leeds, England	Headingley	2001<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

One Day International centuries<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

No.	Runs	Opponents	City/Country	Venue	Year
1	113 not out	Template:Crw	Wellington, New Zealand	Basin Reserve	1997<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2	154 not out	Template:Crw	Christchurch, New Zealand	Hagley Oval	2000<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
3	107 not out	Template:Crw	Lincoln, New Zealand	Bert Sutcliffe Oval	2000<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
4	105 not out	Template:Crw	Lincoln, New Zealand	Bert Sutcliffe Oval	2002<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
5	102 not out	Template:Crw	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park Outer Oval	2004<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
6	107 not out	Template:Crw	Centurion, South Africa	Centurion Park	2005<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
7	151	Template:Crw	Dublin, Ireland	Claremont Road Cricket Ground	2005<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
8	101	Template:Crw	Canberra, Australia	Manuka Oval	2008<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Retirement and post-career

In January 2010, Rolton announced her retirement from international cricket after a 14-year career.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She continued to play domestic cricket for South Australia until the end of the 2010–11 Women's National Cricket League season.<ref name="Cricinfo" />

In 2016, Rolton was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2018, she was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A few months later, the South Australian Cricket Association unveiled a new community sporting facility in Adelaide, announcing the name of the main ground as Karen Rolton Oval.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rolton currently lives in Victoria and remains involved with cricket through her coaching roles at the Melbourne Renegades and also at local level.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours

Team

• 2x Women's Cricket World Cup champion: 1997, 2005

Individual

• ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year: 2006
• Women's Cricket World Cup Player of the Tournament: 2005
• Women's Cricket World Cup Player of the Final: 2005
• 4x Belinda Clark Award winner: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
• Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductee: 2021

References

Further reading

• Template:Cite web

External links

• Template:Sport Australia Hall of Fame
• Template:ESPNcricinfo
• Karen Rolton at southernstars.org.au (archived)