Charlotte Edwards

Born 17th December 1979 in Huntingdon, former Test, ODI and T20I captain of England, Charlotte Marie Edwards, in fact the 14th Test captain of England.

In the third Test against New Zealand at Guildford in July 1996, Debbie Hockley declared the visitor’s innings at 362/5. On the morning of 13th July, Charlotte Edwards walked out to bat with Test legend Jan Brittin, not just to open the batting but to open the doors on a career that spanned two decades.

A cricketer with over 300 international matches on her resume was discovered very early, and was playing England Junior Women’s Trials from the age of 12. That she made her international debut in 1996 at age 16 – then the youngest ever to play for England – is no surprise. On that July morning, Edwards shared an opening stand with Brittin of 63, and made 34 runs herself. In the second innings she scored 31.

On 15th August 1997 Charlotte made her ODI debut, against South Africa at Bristol, scoring 45. Two days later, a century, 102, against the same opposition.

In December 1997, her first taste of World Cup cricket and runs flowed from her bat. On the 16th of the month, the day before Charlotte’s 18th birthday, she scored 173 not out, the highest in a World Cup match, a record she held for a matter of minutes, broken later that same day again.

By now the world was awake to this batting genius. In 1998 the Australians toured England and were met with the opening pair of Edwards and Brittin. They both topped the runs and the averages for England. In 1999 a Test century against India. In the early part of the new century she was chalking up runs against South Africa, New Zealand, India and Australia.

Captain of England

By 2005 having long served as deputy, the inevitable happened and Charlotte Edwards became England’s fourteenth Test cricket captain, a role she would fill for a decade and included the captaincy of both the ODI and T20 teams.

In March 2009 she led England to victory in the World Cup in Sydney. In June she led England to victory in the inaugural T20 World Cup. Two world cup trophies in a matter of months!

Charlotte played her final Test match in 2015 and her last international match in March of 2016. In 23 Test matches she led England 10 times and recorded victories over Australia away from home. She scored 1676 runs at 44.10 with four centuries.

In 191 ODIs Charlotte scored 5992 runs at 38.16 with nine centuries and 46 half centuries. She also took 54 wickets with her leg breaks. In 95 T20 Internationals, 2605 runs at 32.97 and good strike rate for the time of 106.93.

Edwards played a total of 309 international matches for England over 20 years. Since retirement she has taken to coaching, both in England and Australia and can also be heard from time to time in the commentary box.

Embed from Getty Images