A pace bowler best known for her lethal inswingers, Anya Shrubsole is Somerset born and bred and has represented her native county since she was 12 years old. Under the guidance of her father Ian, a former Minor Counties cricketer, she was brought up playing boys cricket at Bath Cricket Club and at age 13 became the first girl to join the Somerset Academy.

She was called up to the England Development Squad in 2007 on the back of a career-best performance for Somerset, in which - opening the bowling - she took 7 for 28 and bowled Surrey out for 104. After impressing for the Development Squad against South Africa in August and in the European Championship later that summer, she received an England summons the following year and made her ODI and T20 debuts in August 2008 against South Africa. She took 3 for 19 on T20 debut and was named Player of the Match.

She won the Most Promising Young Women's Cricketer Award at the end of the 2008 season and was called up to England's squad for the 2009 World Cup. Though she played just one game in that tournament, she has since become a mainstay of England's bowling line-up, spearheading their attack alongside Katherine Brunt; bowling at speeds of 70mph plus in combination with the ability to swing the ball both ways, proving supremely effective.

Her first international five-wicket haul came at Wellington against New Zealand in February 2012: she took 5 for 11, the best bowling performance by an English woman in T20Is. Her first ODI five-for swiftly followed, against South Africa in the 2013 World Cup. She made her Test debut against Australia in August that year, and in the Perth Test of 2014 took 7 for 99 and was instrumental in England's victory.

Her reputation was cemented during the 2014 World Twenty20, when she finished the tournament as leading wicket taker with 13 wickets at 7.53, including a phenomenal spell against India which saw her finish with figures of 3 for 6. She was named Player of the Tournament as a result.

Despite a poor showing from England in the 2015 Ashes series, Shrubsole continued to enjoy personal success and, following her 4 for 11 in the final T20 of the series at Cardiff, she was named England's Player of the Summer. She was also the England Women's Cricketer of the Year for her performances across 2015.

In June 2016 following the retirement of Charlotte Edwards she was named as Heather Knight's new vice-captain. Raf Nicholson