Karen Louise Rolton (born 21 November 1974) is an Australian former
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
er 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
Women's Test cricket is the longest format of women's cricket and is the female equivalent to men's Test cricket. Matches comprise four-innings and are held over a maximum of four days between two of the leading cricketing nations. The rules gov ...
.
International cricket
After making her international debut in 1995, Rolton went on to become a member of two successful world championship campaigns.
In the final of the
2005 Women's Cricket World Cup, she scored 107
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at t ...
and was adjudged Player of the Match.
Her numerous individual honours include being named
ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year in 2006 and winning the
Belinda Clark Award four times.
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
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.
In 2006, Rolton became the
captain of the national team, taking over from
Belinda Clark
Belinda Jane Clark (born 10 September 1970) is an Australian former cricketer and sports administrator. A right-handed batter, she served as the captain of the national women's team for eleven years and was a member of triumphant World Cup ca ...
. She led Australia in the
2009 Women's Cricket World Cup
The 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, held in Australia from 7 to 22 March 2009.
England won the tournament, beating New Zealand in the final to claim their third World Cup title. England batte ...
on home soil, although the team performed below expectations and finished in fourth place.
Records and statistics
Across 14 Test matches, Rolton scored 1,002 runs at an
average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of 55.66 which included two
centuries
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A centennial or ...
and five half-centuries. She made her top score of 209
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at t ...
against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at
Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...
in 2001, a world record at the time.
She also scored 4,814 runs at 48.14 in
Women's One Day International
Women's One Day International (WODI) is the limited overs form of women's cricket. Matches are scheduled for 50 overs, equivalent to the men's game. The first women's ODIs were played in 1973, as part of the first Women's World Cup which was ...
s.
Rolton became the first player to score a century in the knockout stage of a
Women's Cricket World Cup
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is the sport's oldest world championship, with the first tournament held in England in 1973. Matches are played as One Day Internationals (ODIs) over 50 overs per team, while there is also another champion ...
and set a record for the highest individual score on debut in
Women's Twenty20 International
Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 International is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The first Twent ...
s with 96 not out. In addition to her batting prowess, she enjoyed success as a left-arm
medium-pace bowler, taking 102 international wickets across all three formats.
International centuries
Test centuries
One Day International centuries
Retirement and post-career
In January 2010, Rolton announced her retirement from international cricket after a 14-year career. She continued to play domestic cricket for
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
until the end of the
2010–11 Women's National Cricket League season.
In 2016, Rolton was inducted into the
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises "the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai on 2 January 2009, in association with the Fed ...
. In January 2018, she was inducted into the
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the Australian Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This hall of fame commemorates the greatest Australian cricketers of all time, a ...
. A few months later, the
South Australian Cricket Association
The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association administers the Southern Redbacks based in Adelaide. SACA is the controlling body for the South Australian Grade Cri ...
unveiled a new community sporting facility in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, announcing the name of the main ground as
Karen Rolton Oval.
Rolton currently lives in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
and remains involved with cricket through her coaching roles at the
Melbourne Renegades
The Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash ...
and also at local level.
Honours
Team
*2x
Women's Cricket World Cup
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is the sport's oldest world championship, with the first tournament held in England in 1973. Matches are played as One Day Internationals (ODIs) over 50 overs per team, while there is also another champion ...
champion:
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
,
2005
Individual
*
ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year: 2006
*
Women's Cricket World Cup
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is the sport's oldest world championship, with the first tournament held in England in 1973. Matches are played as One Day Internationals (ODIs) over 50 overs per team, while there is also another champion ...
Player of the Tournament:
2005
*
Women's Cricket World Cup
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is the sport's oldest world championship, with the first tournament held in England in 1973. Matches are played as One Day Internationals (ODIs) over 50 overs per team, while there is also another champion ...
Player of the Final:
2005
* 4x
Belinda Clark Award winner: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
*
Sport Australia Hall of Fame
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...
inductee: 2021
References
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
*
Karen Roltonat
southernstars.org.au (archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolton, Karen
1974 births
Australia women One Day International cricketers
Australia women Test cricketers
Australia women Twenty20 International cricketers
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees
Cricketers from South Australia
Living people
South Australian Scorpions cricketers
Cricketers from Adelaide
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year