Jan Brittin was born on this day in 1959. The English batter made her Test debut in 1979 against West Indies and played her last against Australia in 1998. In a career spanning around 19 years, the English player achieved a lot. The most notable of them probably was her record in Test cricket. The former England batter played 27 matches in the longest format of the game and scored 1935 runs. In Women’s cricket, it’s the most for a batter.
The right-handed batter averaged 49.61 as a batter and smashed 5 hundred and 11 fifties in her illustrious career. One might wonder if it is not that great given the low sample size. But there were not many Tests played among women back then, or for that matter even now. She was good even in the limited-overs. The English played 63 ODIs and scored 2120 runs at a batting average of 42.42.
Not to forget, she was extremely handy as a bowler. In ODIs, she claimed 8 wickets at a bowling average of 23.75. With the bat, she smashed 5 hundreds and 8 fifties. Her best score in a match was 138*. With the ball, she registered best match figures of 3/16. Her best score in Tests was 167. In domestic cricket, Brittin represented two teams. She played for Sussex from 1978 to 1980. Later on, she moved to Surrey and played till 1997.
Brittin played a key role in England’s title-winning campaign in the Women’s Cricket World Cup in 1993. Her five hundred in Tests is the most for a woman’s batter. In the Women’s World Cup, she has the most catches for a player. For England, she was the first batter to score 1000 runs. Jan retired in 1998 and became a teacher. She was also a coach for Surrey.
In an unfortunate way, Brittin left this world after suffering from Cancer in September 2017. Brittin was admitted to the ICC Hall of Fame in November 2021. What she left behind was a legacy upon which England’s team was built. Many consider her as their idol. She was a rare international in Indoor Hockey, Cricket, and Indoor Cricket.
Also read: Aaron Finch smashed the highest individual score in T20Is