Audrey Delph Disbury (5 March 1934 – 17 June 2016) was an English cricketer who played primarily as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 10 Test matches for England between 1957 and 1969, as well as playing in 6 One Day Internationals, as captain, for International XI at the 1973 World Cup. She played domestic cricket for West of England and Kent, and served in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS).[1][2]

Audrey Disbury
Personal information
Full name
Audrey Delph Disbury
Born(1934-03-05)5 March 1934
Bedford, Bedfordshire, England
Died17 June 2016(2016-06-17) (aged 82)
Ashford, Kent, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm off-break
RoleBatter
RelationsBrian Disbury (brother)
International information
National sides
Test debut (cap 44)29 November 1957 
England v New Zealand
Last Test28 March 1969 
England v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 3)23 June 1973 
International XI v England
Last ODI21 July 1973 
International XI v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1956–1957West
1961–1971Kent
Career statistics
Competition WTest WODI WFC WLA
Matches 10 6 44 8
Runs scored 391 100 1,430 164
Batting average 24.43 20.00 26.48 23.42
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 2/6 0/1
Top score 47 44 119 64
Balls bowled 340 1,702
Wickets 2 29
Bowling average 65.00 23.41
5 wickets in innings 0 1
10 wickets in match 0 0
Best bowling 1/13 5/64
Catches/stumpings 4/– 0/– 20/– 20/–
Source: CricketArchive, 8 March 2021

Early life and naval career

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Disbury was born in Bedford and educated at Bedford High School. Her family owned a bakery but after training as a nurse at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford she joined the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS).[3] She served as an Air Mechanic with the Fleet Air Arm at Lee-on-Solent before being promoted to Petty Officer and transferring to Chatham Dockyard.[4]

Cricket career

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Whilst at Chatham, Disbury first played for Kent Women cricket team, making a total of 22 appearances for the county side, eventually serving as captain.[4][3] She played for a variety of other teams throughout a career which lasted from 1954 to 1976.[2]

She toured Australia, New Zealand and South Africa with England. She played 10 Test matches between 1957/58 and 1968/69 and was the first member of the WRNS to play for the national side.[3] She also made six one-day appearances for the International XI women's cricket team, captaining the team at the 1973 World Cup.[4] She was a "hard hitting" opening batsman and bowled off-breaks.[3] She later served as a Test match selector for England.[4]

Later life

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After leaving the WRNS, she lived in Ashford and ran a guest house with her partner. She played contract bridge and golf, captaining Kent County Golf Association in 1996–1997, and was President of the association between 2012 and 2014.[4][3] She died at Ashford in June 2016 aged 82.[1] Her brother Brian played county cricket for Kent.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Player Profile: Audrey Disbury". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Player Profile: Audrey Disbury". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Audrey Disbury, The Times, 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Caplow D (2017) 'Deaths in 2016' in Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2017, pp.240–241. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.
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