I recently had the great pleasure of sitting down for a wee chat with Lizzie Ruxton, the captain of our triumphant Women’s 1st team – the Herts County champions.

Lizzie has completed two seasons at Harpenden CC and took over the captain’s reins partway through last season. She opens the batting with her friend Mille Dyer, the two of them plundering plenty of runs at the top of the order. Their left-hand/right-hand combination must drive opposition bowlers to distraction!

With typical modesty, Lizzie says she’s more of a run accumulator than a power hitter but it’s clear that the mountain of runs she and Millie scored up top last season were one of the keystones of the 1st team’s success.

Lizzie played for Hertfordshire for a decade and also captained her county. She says she enjoys the responsibility that comes with captaincy at Harpenden – even the constant juggling/balancing of batting line-ups and bowling changes that it necessarily entails. The team’s ethos of being competitive whilst also having fun and playing with freedom clearly works because the side clinched the inaugural Herts Premiership title, pipping Broxbourne to the trophy in a nerve-jangling last round of fixtures.

She grew up in the Watford area in a cricket-mad household with a dad who is obsessed with the game, a mum who used to score for Herts age-group teams, and a brother (four years her senior) who loved to play. There was always a bat and ball lying around and some epic cricket encounters took place in the Ruxton garden! Both parents come to watch her games.

Lizzie followed her brother into the ranks of Abbots Langley CC, working her way through the age groups. At Knebworth CC she also enjoyed playing for their Men’s 4th team in a supportive and friendly environment.

With an undergraduate degree in Sport Science plus a Masters degree in Strength and Conditioning (both from Portsmouth University) under her belt, Lizzie is clearly very smart. She currently works part-time with young tennis players in Finchley and I’m sure a stellar career in sports coaching will follow in due course.

Our Women’s 1st team skipper lives and breathes cricket. On TV she’s avidly watching England competing in the current Women’s World Cup out in India and Sri Lanka. This last summer she attended Hundred matches and an England Men’s ODI against South Africa.

The Women’s teams have already started training for next season. They are always looking for talented new recruits to bolster the squad; in fact, one thing Lizzie and others have said stood out when they joined our club is how welcome new players are made to feel from the start.

Under Lizzie’s leadership, and the backing of support staff like Luke and Steve, you wouldn’t bet against this talented bunch of players repeating their impressive success next season.

Congratulations to Lizzie and the rest of our Women’s players!