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“I just want to keep getting better”: Bex looks back on year one
2025 was Bex Odgers’ first year as a professional cricketer.
We caught up with her this week to find out whether the reality of being a professional player lived up to the expectation.
“It’s been really exciting,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed it and It’s been a really good experience. When you’re growing up and working your way through the Academy, you wonder what it will be like, so to actually be in the environment was so good. It’s a big step up but it’s great to still essentially be paying cricket with your mates.
“The first day was so exciting. Seeing all those faces was great. There were some familiar faces, some I hadn’t seen for a while and some new ones too. It was a bit scary but mostly exciting!
“The professionalism and the whole attitude was set really high. The coaches and your teammates push you to get better every day. It’s hard work but it’s really enjoyable.
“It was crazy to walk into the dressing room and find my name and find out that Heather, Dani and Wello were right behind me. It’s not that I felt out of place, but to be sharing a dressing room and playing with players like that is a bit of a dream.”
Bex made her debut in the Metro Bank One Day Cup away at Durham. It was a match that Somerset won thanks to her innings of 60. What was that debut like?
“Really cold! I had to wait a bit for that first game, but I was so excited to get going and to get a win was great.”
Bex scored 252 runs in the Metro Bank One Day Cup at an average of 36 and smashed 224 runs in the Vitality Blast at a strike rate of 116 with a best of 52. How would she sum up the 2025 campaign?
“I was pretty happy with how the season went,” she said. “As a team, we didn’t have the season that we wanted, especially in the Vitality Blast. Having said that, there were plenty of positives, particularly in the Metro Bank One Day Cup. There’s loads of things that we can take forward into next season and work on over the winter. Everyone’s really excited about what the next 12 months can bring.”
Did she enjoy playing in front of big crowds?
“The Taunton crowds are amazing. The number of people who watched us at the double headers was impressive and they created a really good atmosphere. The Lancashire stand alone game was one of my favourites of the year. Although we didn’t get the result, it was such a close game, there was a big crowd ,and we had the Taylor Swift tribute afterwards. You could feel that the crowd were right behinds that night and we knew that they were there to watch us because it wasn’t a double header.”
Did the men’s team make you feel welcome?
“From day one they’ve always wanted to chat, get involved and help out. They’ve been really good, and they seem to be as excited as us that Somerset now has a women’s team.”
What does Bex want to achieve in 2026?
“From a team point of view, we really want to get to the 50-over final. We went pretty close this year, and I think that we could have got over the line. In the T20s we just want to keep getting better and better. We know that we didn’t have our best season this summer, but we also know that the potential is there to be better next year.
“From a personal point of view, I just want to keep getting better. This year was my first season, and I felt that there was a lot riding on it. There was a lot to think about and I think I did okay. I just really want to put my foot down now for the next 12 months. I’m going to be training really hard and we’re looking forward to seeing what the new Head Coach will bring to the group.”
