Isa Guha
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High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England
.jpg) 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]
Cricket career
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]
Media work
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]
Charity interests and philanthropy
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]
