New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will unveil the Debbie Hockley Medal at this year’s annual awards ceremony, honoring the year’s outstanding female cricketer. The medal is the equivalent of Sir Her Richard Hadley Medal for Best Men’s Cricketer and will be a permanent addition to NZC’s annual awards. This year’s awards ceremony will be held in Oakland on her March 23rd. Hockley himself presents a new award tonight.
Hockley appeared in her 118 ODIs and her 19 Tests in New Zealand from 1979 to her 2000. She has been considered one of the best hitters for over two decades in the 1980s and 1990s and is considered a pioneer in women’s football. She is the only woman to win the New Zealand Cricketer of the Year award in 1998, 13 years before the Sir Richard Hadley Medal was introduced.
“Of course, I am personally honored, but I am thrilled that the country’s Women’s Cricket Player of the Year is consistently recognized year after year,” said Hockley. “It’s been great to see the progress women’s football has made in New Zealand over the past five or six years and this is also a very positive development.
“Women’s cricket is going from strength to strength.The growth at every level is amazing. “We look forward to presenting this award to the first recipients in March.”
Hockley became the fourth woman to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2013, after Australia’s Belinda She Clark, England’s Enid Her Bakewell and Rachel Her Hey Ho She Flint.
Hockley held several records during her playing and captaincy years. At her 21, she became her second youngest captain in the women’s Test. She is still her fourth highest run-scorer in the format and her highest score in New Zealand. (4), among her various records, she scored ODI hundreds in consecutive innings.
Hockley has scored her over 4000 ODI runs, averaging nearly 42 including four centuries. She was the first woman to exceed 4000 ODI runs and the first woman to play 100 ODIs.
She was the first woman elected as her NZC President.