Jan Brittin

Janette Ann Brittin MBE (4 July 1959 – 11 September 2017), known as Jan Brittin, was an England cricketer[1] who played 27 Tests and 63 ODIs between 1979 and 1998.[2] Her total of 1,935 runs is a Test record [3] as are her five Test centuries.[4] She was also the first woman to score 1,000 runs in ODIs for England.[5]

Brittin's one-day record of 2,121 runs stood until 2003 when Charlotte Edwards became England's leading one-day run-scorer during the 214-run defeat of Sri Lanka. Edwards said "Jan was a very special player and it is a privilege to head the record table with someone like that". Brittin holds the record for taking the most catches in Women's Cricket World Cup history (19).[6]

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!"[7]

After retiring from the game in 1998 she became a teacher, but also coached at Surrey County Cricket Club. She died of cancer aged 58.[8] In July 2019, Surrey County Cricket Club named a room in the members' pavilion in her honour.[9][10]