Born February 5th 1945 in Thanet, Kent, former England Test and ODI captain, Susan Goatman also captained another international team.
Sue captained Young England in the inaugural World Cup in 1973. Given that she skippered England in the 1981/82 World Cup, Sue is the only person to skipper two different teams in a World Cup.
Prior to the World Cup Sue had played in trials and was clearly in the eyesight of the selectors. Post World Cup even more so.
England icon Rachael Heyhoe Flint had long been the Test and ODI captain of England. There were those who sought to change that and she was replaced as captain for the 1978 World Cup when Mary Pilling lead the team. Despite being selected for the home series against the West Indies in 1979, she was replaced as Test captain. Sue Goatman was appointed to the role and became the eighth Test captain of England.
Goatman captained England in three Test matches, winning two of them and drawing the third. She was the first England captain to lead a team against the West Indies. They were the only Test matches she played. She scored 158 runs at 31.60 with a top score of 71.
Sue’s captaincy in that series was first class. Yes, she had the great experience of Heyhoe Flint to assist, but in an era of drawn matches, Sue conjured up two victories for England with clever declarations. In the entire decade of the 1970s these were England’s only Test victories.
In 1981/82 Sue led the England team to the World Cup and took them all the way to the final against Australia. The team fell at the final hurdle where they lost by three wickets at Christchurch. An international career bookended by World Cups, both times as captains of different teams.