| Guha in 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Isa Tara Guha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 May 1985 High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut(cap 137) | 14 August 2002 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 22 January 2011 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut(cap 94) | 10 August 2001 v Scotland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 21 October 2011 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut(cap 5) | 5 August 2004 v New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 29 October 2011 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Thames Valley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2014 | Berkshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,7 March 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Isa Tara Guha MBE (born 21 May 1985) is an English former England cricketer and now a sports television commentator and radio broadcaster. She played in the 2005 South Africa World Cup and the 2009 Australia World Cup. [1]
As a right-arm medium bowler and right-handed batter,Guha represented England in eight Test matches,83 One Day Internationals and 22 Twenty20 Internationals between 2001 and 2011. [2] She was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2025 for services to Inclusivity and Cricket [3]
Born at High Wycombe,Buckinghamshire,her parents (Barun Guha and Roma née Deb) emigrated from Calcutta in West Bengal,India to the United Kingdom in the 1970s. [4] Guha started playing cricket with her older brother when she was about eight [4] and was selected for the Development England side aged 13. [5]
Guha attended Wycombe High School,a grammar school for girls, [6] before attending University College London where she read biochemistry and molecular biology (graduating BSc),then neuroscience (MPhil). [7] [8]
A right arm fast-medium bowler,Guha played minor counties cricket for Berkshire CCC and for Thames Valley CC. [2]
Guha made her Test cricket debut at 17 against India during their tour of England in 2002. [9] During that tour,Guha played in the 2002 Women's Tri-Series and performed well,taking three wickets in England's loss against New Zealand in the final. [10] She became the first woman of Indian heritage to represent England at cricket and was subsequently named the 2002 BBC Asian Network Sports Personality of the Year. [11]
Guha's career best Test bowling figures were 5 for 40 in her penultimate Test match against Australia at the Bradman Oval in February 2008,where she took 9 wickets in the match and received the Player of the Match Award [12] as England retained The Ashes. [13] Her best bowling in 83 ODIs was 5 for 14 against the West Indies later in 2008. [14] In the same year,Guha rose to become the number one bowler in the ICC Women's One-Day International rankings. [15]
Guha was an integral part of the England team which won the 2009 World Cup,later citing this as her playing career highlight. [16]
Guha announced her retirement from international cricket on 9 March 2012,stating she would continue to play county cricket for Berkshire. [17] [18]
Guha with Lynsey Askew shared the world record batting partnership for the ninth wicket in WODIs of 73 runs from 2007 until 2024. [19] [20]
Guha writes a column for the BBC Sport website [21] and is a Test Match Special commentator. [22] She joined ITV Sport in April 2012 as a co-presenter of ITV4's coverage of the Indian Premier League. [23] [24] [25]
In 2016,Guha was a member of the inaugural Triple M radio Test cricket commentary team in Australia. [26] In 2018,she was a commentator for Sky Sports for the England/Pakistan Test matches, [27] and was named as a commentator for Fox Cricket for their Australian cricket coverage. [28] She was also a member of the commentary team at the 2019 Cricket World Cup. [29] In 2020 she was the lead presenter of a new BBC TV Test and ODI cricket highlights show. [30] [31]
For the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games,Guha presented a nightly highlights show for the BBC alongside JJ Chalmers. [32] In 2023,Guha joined the tennis presenting team for the BBC's coverage of the Wimbledon Championships. [33] She presented a nightly highlights show with Mark Chapman for the BBC during the Paris Olympics in 2024. [34]
Isa Guha is an Ambassador (or "Supporter") [35] for Sporting Equals [36] and the British Asian Trust. [25] [37] In 2023,she launched the Got Your Back initiative in order to support female cricket players. [38]
On 16 September 2018,Guha married her long-time boyfriend,British musician Richard Thomas,a member of the band Brother &Bones. [39]
In 2024,Guha found herself in the middle of a controversy after referring to Indian player Jasprit Bumrah on commentary as the "most valuable primate". She later issued an apology to Bumrah. [40]
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