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Isa Guha

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Isa Guha
Guha in 2012
Personal information
Full name
Isa Tara Guha
Born (1985-05-21) 21 May 1985 (age 39)
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleBowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 137)14 August 2002 v India
Last Test22 January 2011 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 94)10 August 2001 v Scotland
Last ODI21 October 2011 v South Africa
ODI shirt no.19
T20I debut (cap 5)5 August 2004 v New Zealand
Last T20I29 October 2011 v South Africa
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1998–1999Thames Valley
2000–2014Berkshire
Career statistics
Competition WTest WODI WT20I WLA
Matches 8 83 22 205
Runs scored 113 122 39 1,556
Batting average 16.14 8.71 7.80 14.67
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/5
Top score 31* 26 13* 72*
Balls bowled 1,491 3,767 459 9,550
Wickets 29 101 18 249
Bowling average 18.93 23.21 25.05 22.43
5 wickets in innings 1 2 0 2
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 5/40 5/14 3/21 5/14
Catches/stumpings 3/– 26/– 4/– 71/–
Source: CricketArchive, 7 March 2021

Isa Tara Guha (born 21 May 1985) is an English sports television commentator and radio cricket broadcaster, and former England cricketer who 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, she represented England in 8 Test matches, 83 One Day Internationals and 22 Twenty20 Internationals between 2001 and 2011.[2]

Early years and education

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.[3] Guha started playing cricket with her older brother when she was about eight[3] and was selected for the Development England side aged 13.[4]

Guha attended Wycombe High School, a grammar school for girls,[5] before going up to University College London where she read biochemistry and molecular biology (graduating BSc), then neuroscience (MPhil).[6][7]

Cricket career

Guha at the 2009 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia

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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

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[11] as England retained The Ashes.[12] Her best bowling in 83 ODIs was 5 for 14 against the West Indies later in 2008.[13] In the same year, Guha rose to become the number one bowler in the ICC Women's One-Day International rankings.[14]

Guha was an integral part of the England team which won the 2009 World Cup, later citing this as her playing career highlight.[15]

Guha announced her retirement from international cricket on 9 March 2012, stating she would continue to play county cricket for Berkshire.[16][17]

Guha with Lynsey Askew shared the world record batting partnership for the ninth wicket in WODIs of 73 runs from 2007 until 2024.[18][19]

Media work

Guha writes a column for the BBC Sport website[20] and is a Test Match Special commentator.[21] She joined ITV Sport in April 2012 as a co-presenter of ITV4's coverage of the Indian Premier League.[22][23][24]

In 2016, Guha was a member of the inaugural Triple M radio Test cricket commentary team in Australia.[25] In 2018, she was a commentator for Sky Sports for the England/Pakistan Test matches,[26] and was named as a commentator for Fox Cricket for their Australian cricket coverage.[27] She was also a member of the commentary team at the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[28] In 2020 she was the lead presenter of a new BBC TV Test and ODI cricket highlights show.[29][30]

In 2023, Guha joined the tennis presenting team for the BBC's coverage of the Wimbledon Championships.[31] She presented for the BBC during the Paris Olympics in 2024.[32]

Charity interests and philanthropy

Isa Guha is an Ambassador (or "Supporter")[33] for Sporting Equals[34] and the British Asian Trust.[24][35] In 2023, she launched the Got Your Back initiative in order to support female cricket players.[36]

Personal life

On 16 September 2018, Guha married her long-time boyfriend, British musician Richard Thomas, a member of the band Brother & Bones.[37]

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.[38]

References

  1. ^ Isa Guha ESPN Cricinfo
  2. ^ a b "Isa Guha". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b Qureshi, Huma (10 October 2012). "Isa Guha: 'England is leading the way in women's cricket'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  4. ^ Kumar, K. C. Vijaya (25 July 2014). "I had the best of both worlds: Isa Guha". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Wycombe girl named under 17s Cricketer of the Year". Bucks Free Press. 28 February 2002.
    Dunhill, Lawrence (12 July 2010). "Nine decades of pupils attend renunion". Bucks Free Press.
  6. ^ UCL (15 August 2006). "Student cricket star". UCL News. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  7. ^ "How Isa Guha is Changing Perceptions about Cricket Presenters | Forbes India Blog". Forbes India. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Isa Guha". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Isa Guha NZ". Independent.co.uk. 20 July 2002. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Isa Guha: First Asian in the England cricket team". Get Bengal. 19 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Full Scorecard of Australia Women vs England Women Only Test 2008 – Score Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  12. ^ "England women win to retain Ashes". 18 February 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Full Scorecard of England Women vs West Indies Women 2nd ODI 2008 – Score Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Isa Guha ICC ODI Bowling Ranking". Reliance ICC Rankings. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  15. ^ Walker, Phil (23 October 2012). "A Drink With… Isa Guha". All Out Cricket. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  16. ^ Isa Guha retires from international cricket ESPN Cricinfo, 9 March 2012
  17. ^ "England's Isa Guha retires from international cricket". BBC Sport. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  18. ^ "12th Match: England Women v New Zealand Women at Chennai, Mar 3, 2007 | Cricket Scorecard |". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  19. ^ "Records | Women's One-Day Internationals | Partnership records | Highest partnerships by wicket |". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  20. ^ Isa Guha column: 'I've picked a winner with the Black Keys' BBC Sport, 15 February 2012
  21. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Test Match Special, The 2019 Men's World Cup Final". BBC. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  22. ^ Indian Premier League cricket returns to ITV4 Archived 8 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine ITV Press Centre, 21 March 2012
  23. ^ The Indian Premier League returns to ITV4 and ITV.com Archived 27 January 2013 at archive.today ITV.com, 30 March 2012
  24. ^ a b ITV Snap up England's Women Cricket Star Isa Guha to present IPL coverage Archived 22 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine Total Sport Promotions, 15 April 2011
  25. ^ Triple M Delivers Best Ever Ashes Commentary Team Triple M Melbourne, 22 September 2017
  26. ^ "Isa Guha is 'new face of cricket' on the BBC..." www.asian-voice.com.
  27. ^ Commentary Team Foxtel
  28. ^ Burley, Oli (12 May 2019). "First-ever Street Child Cricket World Cup held at Lord's". skysports.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  29. ^ "Cricket on the BBC: Isa Guha to present Test & ODI highlights shows". BBC Sport. 4 June 2020.
  30. ^ Martin, Ali (4 June 2020). "Geoffrey Boycott could end TMS career after BBC omit 79-year-old from lineup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  31. ^ "Who is Wimbledon presenter Isa Guha?". www.radiotimes.com. 27 June 2023.
  32. ^ "Olympics: Paris 2024". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  33. ^ "Isa Guha". Supporters. Sporting Equals. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  34. ^ Brand Ambassadors Archived 9 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine Sporting Equals
  35. ^ "VIVO IPL 2017 Schedule". Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017. British Asian Trust, September 2016
  36. ^ "Guha launches initiative to support women in cricket". BBC Sport. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  37. ^ "These dreamy pictures from ex-English cricketer Isa Guha's wedding are bound to make your day". Daily News & Analysis. 21 September 2018.
  38. ^ Ng, Kelly (16 December 2024). "Commentator Isa Guha sorry for calling cricketer 'primate'". BBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
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