Included in this article are players who both played List A/T20 cricket for Somerset, and played international cricket during their careers. Article contributed by Matt Kingdom.
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Janet Godman
Janet Godman made her England debut in 1991, long before Somerset had a formalised existence in the Women’s County Championship. She went on to play two Test matches and seven One-Day Internationals for the side between 1991 and 1996, including winning the World Cup in 1993. She played for West Women between 1995 and 1998, and then Somerset from 2000 to 2011, often combining playing with coaching and administrative duties, and was instrumental in re-setting up Somerset Women in 1999. She scored six half-centuries for West and a half-century and a century for Somerset. Her 117* for Somerset, her List A high score, came in a 190-run victory over Cheshire in 2001. Godman was still playing county cricket up until 2019, for Buckinghamshire. Her daughter, Emma, also played for Somerset between 2013 and 2019 and her mother, Pat Siderfin, was a player, umpire, and scorer, including scoring Women’s Tests and One-Day Internationals.
Sarah Collyer
Cheshire-born Sarah Collyer played for Somerset in 2001 and 2002, and played seven Tests and 25 One-Day Internationals for England between 1998 and 2003. Her best international performance came at the 2000 World Cup, where she took 5/32 against the Netherlands. For Somerset, she scored two half-centuries and took five wickets at an average of 16.00. After leaving Somerset she returned to play for Cheshire, whilst also spending a season playing for Western Australia.
Katharine Winks
Katharine Winks’ last season in county cricket was Somerset’s first, in 2000, although she did play for West Women between 1992 and 1999. She made seven appearances for England, all in One-Day Internationals, between 1998 and 2000. Primarily a right-arm seamer, she took 34 wickets at an average of 25.55 for West Women.
Laura Harper
One of Somerset’s strongest all-rounders in their early years, Harper appeared in six Tests and 25 One-Day Internationals for England, taking a five-wicket haul in both formats. In fact, her ODI five-wicket haul came on her international debut, with 5/12 against the Netherlands in 1999. For Somerset, she struck five half-centuries and took 35 wickets at an average of 20.00. Harper also played for West Women in 1999, and joined Cornwall for two seasons after leaving Somerset.
Jackie Hawker
By far Somerset’s leading appearance-maker, Hawker played 115 times for the side between 2000 and 2018. Primarily a medium-pace bowler, she is Somerset’s all-time leading wicket-taker in List A cricket, with 101 victims at an average of 22.54. She also took Somerset’s only T20 five-wicket haul, with 5/6 from 3 overs against Cheshire in 2018. For England, she played one Test match and seven One-Day Internationals, between 1999 and 2002. She also played for West Women between 1993 and 1999, meaning Hawker played 26 consecutive seasons for the two West Country sides.
Hannah Lloyd
Somerset’s cap number 1 (opening the batting in the side’s first ever Women’s County Championship match), Lloyd played for the side 51 times, including scoring 136* in 2005 against Surrey, at the time a record List A score for Somerset. She also picked up 51 wickets at an average of 16.55, including three five-wicket hauls. Born in Wales, her father, Barry Lloyd, played for Glamorgan between 1972 and 1984; Hannah would go on to play five One-Day Internationals for England between 1999 and 2003. She also spent one season in New Zealand playing for Central Districts, in 2003/04.
Kath Wilkins
Somerset’s first captain, she played for the side between 2000 and 2003, as well as West Women between 1991 and 1999. In her 15 matches for Somerset, she took 15 wickets at an average of 14.93, including 6/36 against Hertfordshire in 2001. She was also successful with the bat for West, including scoring 111 against Thames Valley in 1994. Her England chance came in 1999, when she played all three matches in the Women’s European Championship. England won all of their matches to win the competition, with Wilkins opening the batting to score 66 runs as well as taking 4 wickets at an average of just 7.75.
Caroline Atkins
Atkins was an England regular for many years, representing her country between 2001 and 2011. She scored three Test match half-centuries and one ODI century, as well as winning both the 2009 World Cup and the 2009 World Twenty20. She played for Sussex whilst an England player, only joining Somerset in 2013 and staying with the side for two seasons in a player/coach role. She ended up playing only two matches for Somerset, but managed 55 in her only List A appearance. After her playing career, she became a coach, and was Western Storm’s head coach during their first season in the Kia Super League, in 2016.
Izzy Westbury
Despite being born in London, Westbury played one ODI for the Netherlands in 2005, having attended school in the country. She went on to attend Millfield School in Street, and subsequently joined Somerset: she played for the county between 2007 and 2012. She took 25 List A wickets for the side at an average of 19.88, including 5/20 taken against Lancashire in 2008. She departed Somerset to play for Middlesex ahead of the 2013 season, but returned to the South West to be part of Western Storm’s squad in the inaugural Kia Super League in 2016.
Steph Davies
Somerset’s captain in 2009 and 2010, Davies made 56 appearances for Somerset between 2001 and 2011. Born in Aberdare, Wales, she was a strong all-round performer for the side, striking four List A half-centuries and taking 38 List A wickets at an average of 26.76. For England, she got her chance in four ODIs during England’s 2007/08 tour of Australia and New Zealand, taking six wickets at an average of 24.50.
Anya Shrubsole
England legend Anya Shrubsole made her Somerset debut at the age of just 12, against Berkshire in the 2004 Women’s County Championship: she picked up 2/20 from her six overs. Shrubsole went on to make 88 appearances for Somerset until she left the county at the end of the 2018 season: she made nearly 2,000 runs including two centuries, and took 100 wickets including three five-wicket hauls. She holds the record for the best List A bowling performance for Somerset, with 7/28 against Surrey in 2007. She also hit the first, and only, T20 century for Somerset, with 109* from 48 deliveries: it remains the fastest century by an English woman in T20 cricket. She also played for Western Storm throughout the Kia Super League and into the regional era, leaving the side at the end of the 2021 season, helping the side to two KSL titles, as well as taking the side’s only KSL five-wicket haul. She played for England 173 times between 2008 and 2022, and will be forever remembered for her match-winning performance in the final of the 2017 World Cup.
Fran Wilson
Wilson began her career with Somerset, appearing for the side between 2006 and 2014. In her 86 appearances for the team, she racked up 2,587 runs, making her the second-highest run-scorer for the side in both List A and T20 cricket. Her one century for Somerset came in 2010, with 103 against Berkshire; a few months later, she was making her England debut, in an international career that would last until 2021 and see her pick up a World Cup winner’s medal in 2017. She was also a crucial part of Western Storm’s successes in the Kia Super League between 2016 and 2019, and returned to the side during the regional era ahead of the 2022 season.
Lizelle Lee
South African international Lizelle Lee was Somerset’s overseas player in 2015 and 2016. She was clearly a successful signing for the team, making one List A century and three T20 half-centuries in her 13 appearances across the two seasons. Her century was clearly a brutal affair, as she plundered 111 from 60 balls including 22 fours against Devon at Taunton Vale in 2015. She was also one of Western Storm’s overseas players in the first edition of the Kia Super League in 2016, scoring one half-century, against her future team Surrey Stars. She also had a long and successful career for South Africa between 2013 and 2022, playing two Test matches, 100 One-Day Internationals and 82 Twenty20 Internationals.
Lauren Filer
Somerset’s most recent international call-up, Filer made her England debut in the Ashes Test match against Australia in 2023, picking up four wickets including dismissing Ellyse Perry twice. For Somerset, meanwhile, she made her debut for the side in 2018; her twin sister, Jodie, made her debut less than two months later. Filer also joined Western Storm in 2020 and signed her first professional contract with the side at the end of the 2022 season. She was the side’s leading wicket-taker in the 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, whilst a strong run at the start of the 2023 season for Storm, showing off her pace and swing with the ball, saw her earn that spot in the England team.
Honourable Mentions – Somerset Women’s first England player
Audrey Disbury
Audrey Disbury played for Somerset in 1955 and 1956 – long before women’s cricket was organised along official List A/T20 lines. However, she deserves a mention as Somerset’s true first international cricketer. Although she was born in Bedford and played most of her domestic cricket for Kent, her job with the Women’s Royal Naval Service took her to Yeovil, allowing her to play for Somerset. Her class was immediately recognised, with her being appointed captain of the side for both of her seasons with the club, and playing at Territorial level for West Women. Her one recorded contribution of note came in May 1955, when she took 5/9 against Mrs Flann’s XI (effectively a Cornwall team). Not long after appearing for Somerset, she achieved international recognition, and went on to play ten Test matches for England between 1957 and 1969. She scored 391 runs at an average of 24.42 and took two wickets. This was not the end of her international career, however, as she returned in 1973 to captain the International XI (a best of the rest team) at the inaugural World Cup. She scored 100 runs and lead the side to three victories, against New Zealand (where she top-scored with 44), Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. After her playing career ended, she remained involved in sport, including a spell as an England selector. She passed away in Ashford, Kent, in 2016, aged 82.
Honourable Mentions – Somerset Women’s Other Overseas Players
Whilst the players in this section did not play international cricket, they still added international experience to Somerset’s side.
Magdalena Pokludova
Pokludova played six matches for Somerset in 2002 and 2003: two innings, 14 runs, high score of 8; 2 overs bowled, no wickets. Whilst the stats may not seem impressive, the story behind them is much more interesting: Pokludova came to England from the Czech Republic on a student exchange in Bath, first watching a cricket match in 2000. Just two years later, having ensured further abroad study took place in the UK to increase her chances of playing cricket, she was making her Somerset debut, against Lancashire at Kimbolton School in Huntingdonshire. Whilst Pokludova disappears from the annals of Somerset Women after 2003, it seems she did at least initially continue to play cricket back home in Prague.
Jenny Wallace
Australian wicket-keeper Jenny Wallace spent one season with Somerset in 2004, playing five matches for the side. Dismissed just twice, she ended her stint with an incredible average of 121.00, including a high score of 93*, made in Somerset’s 47-run victory over Middlesex. She also achieved nine dismissals with her work behind the stumps. Clearly, Wallace’s contribution was vital in helping Somerset pick up their first piece of silverware, the 2004 Women’s County Championship Division Two title. Back home in Australia, she played for New South Wales and Western Australia, as well as appearing in the first season of the Women’s Big Bash League for Perth Scorchers.
Tamara Gould
Born in Timaru, New Zealand, Tamara Gould spent two seasons with Somerset, in 2005 and 2006. Across her eleven matches for the side, she scored 206 runs, as well as picking up ten dismissals as a wicket-keeper. Gould also picked up a winner’s medal with Somerset, helping the side to topping Division Two of the Women’s County Championship in 2005. During her time with Somerset, she also played for Bath Cricket Club, whilst back in New Zealand she played for Canterbury and Northern Districts.
Elwyn Campbell
Although hailing from Perth, Australia, Elwyn Campbell made her home in Somerset after she finished playing for Western Australia: she was a key part of Somerset’s team between 2007 and 2013. She remains Somerset’s fourth-highest List A run-scorer, and one of only five players to break the 1,000 run mark in List A matches for the side. Her 1,471 List A runs came at an average of 34.21, with her high score coming in 2011 against Surrey, where she struck 125 from 117 deliveries. She also played for Bath Cricket Club during her time in the county.
Emily Divin
Tasmanian batter Emily Divin played five matches for Somerset in 2012, although she struggled to make an impact, with a high score of just 16. More notable is her resilience whilst playing for her native Tasmania: overcoming injury, and then returning to the side after giving birth to her son, Harry. During the 2015/16 season, Divin played for Tasmania whilst Harry became the first baby to tour with the side, closely attended to by dad Mark, who also played for Tasmania.