Jan Brittin

Janette Ann Brittin MBE (4 July 1959 – 11 September 2017) was an English cricketer who played as a right-handed batter and right-arm off break bowler. She appeared in 27 Tests and 63 ODIs for England between 1979 and 1998. She played domestic cricket for Sussex and Surrey.[1][2][3]

Brittin was part of the England team that triumphed in the 1993 Women's Cricket World Cup, and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours for services to women's cricket.[4][5]

One of England's most successful batters, her total of 1,935 runs is a Test record, as are her five Test centuries.[6][7] She was also the first woman to score 1,000 runs in ODIs for England.[8] Brittin holds the record for taking the most catches, 19, in Women's Cricket World Cup history.[9]

As a child, Brittin lived in Chessington, Surrey. She represented English schools at athletics, and later became a rare triple international, in indoor hockey and indoor cricket as well as cricket. She was well known for her feats of athleticism on the cricket field; her England team-mate Enid Bakewell has said that "One of the reasons they changed from playing in skirts to trousers was JB’s diving stops!"[10]

After retiring from the game in 1998 she became a teacher, but also coached at Surrey County Cricket Club. She died of cancer on 11 September 2017, aged 58.[1] In July 2019, Surrey County Cricket Club named a room in the members' pavilion in her honour.[11][12] In November 2021, she was inducted to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[13]