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Somerset’s England Captains
When Heather Knight signed for Somerset she became the latest in a line of players to be the captain of England whilst representing the County.
Let’s take a look at those who have skippered the Three Lions during their time with Somerset.
Jack White
Born in Holford in 1891, Jack White was the eldest of three brothers and was of farming stock.
He was a boarder at Taunton School when he came to the attention of the school’s cricket coach, E.J. Tyler.
Tyler was himself a former Somerset player of some distinction who had also featured in a Test for England. A fine slow left-arm bowler, Tyler played an important role in the development of his young protégé.
By the time he was 17, White was deemed good enough to make his Somerset debut against Middlesex at Bath in 1909. It wasn’t the immediate success that he had hoped for and he would only appear once more during that season.
Following a few brief appearances the following year, White was not called up again until 1913. This time he grasped the opportunity with both hands. He finished the season with 83 wickets at an average 15.11, despite missing a number of matches due to his commitments on the family farm.
The following year he famously claimed eight for 36 in the first innings against Worcestershire at Bath before claiming eight for 47 in the second innings.
His fine form continued but it wasn’t until 1921 that he was rewarded with his first Test appearance. The 30-year-old claimed three wickets against Australia but was not selected for his country again until 1928 despite his continued outstanding numbers for Somerset.
Between 1919 and 1932 he claimed more than 100 wickets in every season. 1929 was his best year when he took an astonishing 168 wickets.
He was also the first Somerset player to achieve the double of 100 wickets and 1000 runs, which he completed in both 1929 and 1930.
His international recall came in 1928 for one Test against the West Indies. During the match, the England Captain, Percy Chapman was forced to leave the field due to injury and White took over the role.
He captained his country for the first official time against Australia in the fourth Test of the 1929 series and was named skipper for that year’s series against South Africa. He played in the first three Tests before being surprisingly replaced by Arthur Carr.
In total, White captained England on four occasions.
Brian Close
Brian Close captained England in seven Test matches between 1966 and 1967 whilst at Yorkshire, but that was not to be the end of him as the captain of his country.
At the age of 39, Close joined Somerset ahead of the 1971 season after a distinguished career for the White Rose County. During his time at Headingley he had become the youngest England Test player in 1949 and in the same year he became the youngest player to do the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets.
He scored a century in his first match for Somerset and scored more than 1300 runs that season.
The following year he was awarded the Somerset captaincy and received a CBE from the Queen for his services to cricket.
1972 was also the year that Close was not only called up to the England ODI squad, but was named captain for the three-match series against Australia following an injury to Ray Illingworth.
Despite not captaining his country again, Close represented England until 1976, by which time he was 45 years old.
Ian Botham
One of the greatest players ever to have represented both Somerset and England, Ian Botham was a household name due to his on-field and off-field exploits by the time he was named as the captain of his country.
His performances for Somerset with bat and ball had brought him to the attention of the England selectors, and in 1976 he was called into the ODI squad and his Test debut came the following year.
He replicated his heroics for Somerset on the international stage and was elevated to the England captaincy in both Test and ODI cricket 1980.
After relinquishing the England captaincy in 1981, Botham returned to his game-changing best form and cemented his place as one of England’s greatest.
In total he captained England in nine ODIs and 12 Tests.
Marcus Trescothick
Undoubtedly Somerset’s finest batter of the modern era, Marcus Trescothick also showcased his undeniable talent at the very highest level.
After a slow start to his county career, his performances for Somerset were rewarded with an international call up in 2000.
He cemented his place in the national side almost immediately and when Nasser Hussain sustained an injury, Marcus captained his country for the first time against Zimbabwe in 2001.
In 2004, Trescothick captained the Test side for the first time, making 86 in England’s first innings as his side came out on top by seven wickets in the first Test against New Zealand.
2005 saw him captain the Test side for a second and final time. His 193 in England’s first innings wasn’t enough to prevent Pakistan winning the first Test of the series by 22 runs.
Marcus captained England in a total of 10 ODI’s, winning five of them.
Andrew Strauss
In 2011, England Captain, Andrew Strauss needed game time ahead of that summer’s Test series against India.
Injury and a perceived lack of form meant that Strauss faced the prospect of going into the Test series on the back of just one County Championship appearance for Middlesex.
However, ahead of Somerset’s tour match against India it was announced that the England skipper would represent county crickets South Westerly most club during the fixture.
It was a move that suited everyone, except India, as Strauss made 78 in the first innings and 109 not out in the second innings as Somerset dominated a match that ended in a draw.
England went on to win the Test series 4-0 and Strauss finished the series with more than 200 runs.
Anya Shrubsole
Anya was only 12 years old when she made her Somerset debut, claiming two for 20 from six overs and helping Somerset to a four-wicket win over Berkshire. She then became the first girl to join the Somerset Academy when she was 13.
She took 89 wickets in 71 List A matches for Somerset with a best of seven for 28 and went on to make her England debut in 2008.
She featured in 173 internationals across the formats, taking a total of 227 wickets for her country.
Anya was named player of the tournament at the ICC Women’s World T20 competition in 2014 and was named player of the match as England lifted the World Cup trophy at Lord’s in 2017.
In 2018 Anya became the first woman to appear on the cover of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack and was one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year. That year she also captained England for the only occasion against India in an ODI in Nagpur.
She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours list
Heather Knight
The World Cup winning skipper played her way through the Devon Pathway before making her debut for the county in 2005. She then represented Berkshire between 2010 and 2019.
Her England debut came in an ODI against India in Mumbai in March 2010, and she made an immediate impact by opening the batting and top scoring with 49 in England’s two-wicket victory.
She has since gone on to feature in 146 ODIs, 126 IT20s and 13 Test matches, scoring more than 6800 runs and claiming 84 wickets with her right-arm off spin.
She was named England Captain in 2016 and led her country to World Cup glory the following year.
In 2018 she was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year and was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours list.
Heather was the first woman to score an international century in all three formats of the game and was the first female player to score a 50 and take five wickets in an ODI.
