Making her debut in a dead rubber in the last match of the 5-match ODI series, at the Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai, Danni Wyatt came to bat when England was 5 down in the 38th over. Jenny Gunn was uprooted by the No. 1 bowler in the ODI ranking, Jhulan Goswami, and England still needed 74 runs in 12 overs. In a situation where the asking rate went above 6, Danni Wyatt added small but useful partnerships of 28 with Laura Marsh and another 27 with Danielle Hazell.
Her unbeaten 28 from 26 with two boundaries not only earned England a consolation victory with a ball to spare but also started a relationship with this country, which a decade later one can recall as a bitter-sweet symphony. After her heroics in the final ODI, where she was the 2nd highest scorer for her side she got run out in the very first ball in the first T20I, followed by 1 and she didn’t get to bat in the decider. Indeed bitter-sweet.
The saga of bitterness and sweetness continued a decade later when Danni Wyatt became one of the giants of the shortest format of the game. In February 2023, she tweeted “Dreamt of playing in the WPL. Heartbroken. Congrats to all who got picked up. India is a wonderful place to play cricket”. Having played in almost every league around the world from WBBL to Fair Break Invitational, she felt embarrassed when she was not picked by any of the five franchises in the auction of the inaugural WPL in 2023.
“I was very much gutted to be not picked up in the last year. Especially after I hoped that I was definitely going to get picked by any of the sides. Last year it was a weird feeling for a few days when I didn’t get picked, felt embarrassed, especially because people told me in messages that I definitely would get picked all those times. Action can do weird things and it was meant to be the last year’s auction,’ Danni Wyatt shared in an Exclusive interview with Women’s CricInsight.
But a year later Wyatt had the contrasting feeling from the last year as she made her entry in the 2nd season of the Women’s Premier League when UP Warriors bought her for INR 30L in the mini-auction. Speaking about the thoughts around the auction, she said that unlike last year she switched her thoughts around the auction.
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Danni Wyatt again added, “I had a good summer. I did everything I could do to get picked. And I thought that If I couldn’t get picked I would not dwell in that as there was much more cricket left around the year where I could play in. But I got a bid from UP, which was very nice.”
After the T20 World Cup, where she had scored a 33 balls 59 against Pakistan, Danni Wyatt played a crucial role in the 3-run victory of England in the Ashes to level the series. In the POM performance, with a strike rate of 165, she hit 76 from 46 to take the total to 186. In the next match, she scored 26 from 15. England defeated Australia in the T20 series for the first time in 6 years.
In that same Ashes, last year, Wyatt, one with the highest cap for England in T20Is (150) made her Test debut. In a match where the England batters failed to tackle Ash Gardner in the 2nd innings, she chipped in with 44 and 54. Though she skipped WBBL citing fatigue, she played a crucial role in The Hundreds for Southern Braves. Danni Wyatt, who was the highest scorer of the tournament with 295 runs and a strike rate of 142, made 3 half-centuries including one in the final against Northern Super Chargers. 38 ball 59 including 9 boundaries and a six from Wyatt led Braves to their inaugural title.
One who has a plethora of experiences in playing in different kinds of T20 Leagues, Danni Wyatt focuses on the importance of how playing these leagues has shaped up on and off the field.
“I have always loved travelling around the world and learning about different cultures, meeting new people, and playing in different conditions. I have done that from a very young age and that has helped me in my cricketing career and life, on and off the field. You learn so much about yourself, living on your own in Australia for three months. Travelling abroad, making new friends, and teammates, and knowing each other is the chance to see that world which I always loved, I loved that part of cricket. When I played in the WBBL for the first time, years ago I learned so much. It was the first time I was playing in such a league, with and against the best players of the time, it made me realise what I needed to do to improve my game and reach the next level. That is why it is so good to be part of it and leagues like this WBBL, The Hundred give the younger players opportunities to learn from the older players,” Danni Wyatt explained.
In a career that lasted for almost 14 years, Danni Wyatt believed that there were two phases. She started as an off-spin bowler who bowled from round the wicket in a tight line and can chip in with some runs as a pinch hitter like she did in her debut match against India. But even then she had a feeling that she was better than that.
“In the first half of my career when I was bowling I knew deep down that I am a batter and I was batting as a pinch hitter. Even if I look back I am grateful for the opportunity I got there. I was bowling, I was in the playing Xi and I was doing what I was told to do for the time. Every now and then scoring 20 from 15, getting the team to a great start and then getting out. I felt that I was better than that,” Danni Wyatt expressed.
But the transition happened in the 2017 Ashes when Australia hosted England for a multi-format series. The Ashes which was known for the first-ever Women’s Day Night Test match and Ellyse Perry’s record-breaking 213* in that, Wyatt was given the role to open the batting in the T20I and she never looked back from there. Her maiden half-century from 36 balls was overshadowed by another emerging opener Beth Mooney (unbeaten 86 from 56) in the first match, Danni Wyatt turned the table in the last match to clinch the T20I series.
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The match was crucial for both teams. A victory for Australia would ensure that they win the Ashes outright while a victory for England would draw the series with 8 points each. Australia would have still retained the series on the virtue of their victory in 2015. Batting first Australia posted a total of 178 based on Beth Mooney’s 117 from 70 balls. Wyatt replied with 13 boundaries and 2 sixes on her way to 57-ball 100. An innings with a strike rate of 175, ensured that England earned the salvation.
Reminsihsing that memory, the England International said, “The half-century in the 2017 Ashes and then followed by a hundred excelled my career to another level and showed the world what I can do. I guess when you get older you learn more about yourself rather than listening to people much. You know what works for you and what you need to do to get better. I kind of a have like don’t care attitude which helped me to get my 50s and 100s, And for that, I loved batting in the T20s. I just try and play fearless cricket and I try to entertain and inspire the younger generation through my batting.”
Danni Wyatt who had no 50+ score in the first 6 years of her career, now has 13 half-centuries and two centuries in T20 cricket since 2017. The 2nd highest scorer for England, after legendary Charlotte Edwards, Danni Wyatt holds the record for most centuries in the T20I among the Test-playing nation along with Lanning, Mooney, Dottin and Matthews. Only Esha Oza of UAE and Fatuma Kibasu of Tanzania have more hundreds (3) than her if we look overall. Moreover, only Healy (2795, SR 129.15) has a better strike rate and more runs than Danni Wyatt, overall in T20Is (2602 runs, strike rate 127.23).
Danni Wyatt always loves to come to India for a few reasons. If the love and welcoming gesture of the people, their craziness and love for the game of cricket which gives her an extra pulse, form one of the reasons, for her love for Indian food and culture is another one.
“I love experiencing different cultures like getting out and exploring how you live which is pretty incredible, ‘Incredible India’ for a reason. Besides that, my dad used to print out menus for Indian restaurants back there where we lived in England and they used to give him Indian food and we used to hop upon those. From there my love for Indian food started. She said. Apart from that, the pitch was quite flat and it’s nice to bat on batting-friendly wickets. India is a beautiful place to play,” she further added.
Why wouldn’t she love playing in India? After 2017 Ahses, England travelled to India for the T20I tri-series and she showed glimpses of her touch. in the first T20I. Chasing a record target of 199 at the Brabourne Stadium against India, her blistering 124 from 64 balls made the host shell-shocked. Before getting out to 17th over to Deepti Sharma, she curated her innings with 15 boundaries and 5 sixes. England went on to win the match comfortably with 10 balls to spare.
Danni Wyatt’s century remains the only hundred in India in the T20I. Since her debut none of the batters has a better strike rate if we take a cut-off of 400 runs in India in T20Is than her (SR 143, Run 459). She is closely followed by Shafali Verma ( SR 133, 483 runs,) and Alyssa Healy ( SR 131, 468 runs,). To put into perspective Harmanpreet Kaur who has scored more than 1000 runs in the said period in India has a strike rate of less than 100.
Even a couple of days before that auction where she was picked up by UP Warriors, Wyatt hit a 47-ball 75, her 2nd half-century in India in 17 innings. Though Danni Wyatt had a match on the same day of the auction, she was following that from her hotel room in Mumbai.
Danni Wyatt again added, “I am very excited to be here in the UP camp. I just want to enjoy the opportunity, want to be around the girls and want to become a good teammate on and off the field. And if I get the opportunity to play I would like to score runs and contribute to the team’s victory and ultimately lift the title. So I’m gonna take it day by day, enjoy my day out here, because you know I might never get a chance again to be part of the tournament.”
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To her getting enough rest and having a balance between life in and outside cricket is a key to playing well. As everyone talking about mental health and breaks more than ever now, she thinks it is important to take breaks in between rather than keep playing and running out of batteries.
“For the last 5 years, a lot has been spoken about mental health. Sarah Taylor, and Ben Stokes both had spoken about taking a break which has been really brave thing to do. They kind of started a trend where the break or the talk about mental health has been seen as bravery rather than weakness. For me, if I’m tired I wouldn’t be playing by best cricket so I look into my schedule and look for the gaps where I can go away for a few days to recharge the battery and get to go again. That is how I will be able to place myself in a situation where I can play some good cricket,” Danni Wyatt stated.
As she has seen both success and failure with close encounters she knows what it takes to take oneself on the ground again. To her one needs to learn to deal with failures well.
“As you get older you just learn how to deal with it because in cricket you are gonna fail more times than you get success. Especially being an opening batter who goes on from ball one, the risky shots not always going to come off. So I just try to judge myself on my intent. So I like to ask myself if it was the right shot, did I prepared well, If I did, then it does not matter what the outcome is. So I try to tell a lot of younger players who can’t deal with failures, that one has to be good to deal with failures otherwise you won’t make it. It’s very important to have a good balance between life in and outside cricket. I like to get away from cricket, and not to think about it if I fail. And as I always believe the sun will still come up the next morning,” Danni Wyatt concluded.
On behalf of Women’s CricInsight, we wish Danni Wyatt all the best for the upcoming season!
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