Flashback: The top run-scorer in Women’s Test history – Jan Brittin

Test matches in Women’s cricket are held on rare occasions in comparison to the men’s format. However, in the other two formats ODIs and T20Is, women’s matches are played at regular intervals. But, do you know who is the highest run-getter in Women’s Test history. This record is held by Jan Brittin who was born on 4th July 1958 in England.

She played 27 Tests and 63 ODIs for the England team from 1979 to 1998. In Test cricket, she aggregated 1935 runs in 44 innings at an average of 49.61. This includes 5 centuries and 11 fifties with a high score of 167. She made her Test debut against West Indies in 1979 and played her final Test against Australia in 1998.

💪 Most runs in women’s Tests – 1935
💯 Most centuries in women’s Tests – 5
🏆 Top score in the final in England’s 1993 @cricketworldcup win#OnThisDay in 1959, Jan Brittin, an all-time England great, was born. pic.twitter.com/H864pk5ptX

— ICC (@ICC) July 4, 2020

In terms of most runs in the longest format in Women’s format, Brittin is followed by her teammate Charlotte Edwards. She scored 1676 runs in 43 innings at an average of 44.10 including 4 centuries and 9 fifties.

Brittin played 63 ODIs in which she scored 2121 runs in 59 innings. The right-hander had 5 centuries and 8 half-centuries to her name in the 50-over format. She was also the highest run-scorer in ODIs for some time, later Edwards surpassed her. She was the first English woman to complete 1000 ODI runs.

Brittin top-scored with 48 when England beat New Zealand at Lord’s to win the World Cup in 1993. She also took the final catch to secure victory. She spent her childhood in Chessington, Surrey. She played for English schools at athletics and later became triple international with representation in Indoor Hockey, Indoor cricket and cricket.

Brittin played her domestic cricket for Surrey and Sussex. After retiring from the game in 1998, she became a teacher, and also performed the role of coach at Surrey County Cricket Club. On 11 September 2017, Jan Brittin passed away after battling cancer. In July 2019, Surrey County Cricket Club named a room in the members’ pavilion in her honour.