Anya Shrubsole

• Profile

Whether it’s with Berkshire, Western Storm, Southern Brave or England, Anya is a one of world cricket’s most respected bowlers. The first girl to join Somerset academy, as 13-year old, she has spent the subsequent 17 years breaking records and earning plaudits.

Anya tops the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup charts for wickets taken and it is on the international stage that she has truly shined.

After winning 2008’s Most Promising Young Women's Cricketer Award, she was called up to the England squad for the 2009 Women's World Cup. She took an eye-catching 5/11 in a T20 international against New Zealand in February 2012 but it was 2017 when things really moved on.

Anya was Player of the Match in the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup Final thanks to a match-winning 6/46 against India. She would soon became the first woman to appear on the cover of Wisden, awarded an MBE in the Queen's 2018 New Year Honours list, and named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

In November 2020, Shrubsole was nominated for the ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Decade award and in 2022 named in England’s team for the Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

It would mark her (possibly) finest hour with the bat. Coming in at No.11, her nerveless 7* from 10 balls in the must-win game against the hosts saw England over the line and on their way, ultimately, to the final.

Follow Anya on Twitter @Anya_shrubsole and Instagram @anyashrubsole