Ebony Rainford-Brent, former England cricketer

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Former cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent is the first Black woman to play for England and she was part of the team which won the Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2009. Today she is a broadcaster and cricket commentator for Channel 4, Sky Sports and the BBC’s Test Match Special.

Ebony was born in south London and as a child it was football that caught her attention, especially Liverpool FC and her hero Robbie Fowler. At primary school she was encouraged to have a go at cricket through a charity called Cricket For Change which was set up to encourage more state school children into the sport. Holding a bat in her hands for the first time, she hit the ball as hard as she could and, as she watched it soar through the air, she was hooked.

Ebony started out playing for Surrey Cricket Club’s Under 11’s team as a bowler. In 2003 a serious back injury forced her to stop playing and she thought her sporting career was over. She was determined to prove the medics wrong so she retrained as a batswoman as batting was easier on her back.

In 2007 she made her debut for England and two years later was part of the World Cup-winning team. In 2020 Ebony joined forces with Surrey Cricket Club and founded the African-Caribbean Engagement Programme (ACE) to build grassroots cricket programmes for young people in black communities across the UK. In 2021 she was awarded an MBE for her services to cricket and charity.

DISC ONE: Cold Sweat - James Brown DISC TWO: Girlie Girlie - Sophia George DISC THREE: Pass Me Over - Anthony Hamilton DISC FOUR: A Long Walk - Jill Scott DISC FIVE: Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin DISC SIX: Never Forget - Take That DISC SEVEN: Superheroes - Stormzy DISC EIGHT: Work To Do - The Isley Brothers BOOK CHOICE: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho LUXURY ITEM: A drum kit CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: A Long Walk - Jill Scott

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Transcript

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0:00.0	In 2024, we were here for the gritty ones.
0:04.8	The adrenaline was building up in me.
0:06.7	With gripping true prime podcasts, people can shock you all the time.
0:11.3	Dead man running.
0:12.5	The word was out.
0:13.9	A wanted man may have staged his disappearance.
0:17.0	Intrigue to catch a scorpion.
0:19.0	Scorpion actually really does look scary.
0:21.2	I mean, how do you get through that feed?
0:23.0	And how are we going to get near him?
0:24.5	And gangster.
0:25.6	It was an organised hit in the middle of his heartland territory.
0:29.8	The Best of 2024 is here.
0:32.2	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:35.8	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:39.6	Hello, I'm Lauren Levern, and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast.
0:43.4	Every week, I ask my guest to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them
0:48.4	if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:51.2	And, for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening. My castaway this week is the broadcaster and former cricketer Ebony Rainford Brent.
1:24.2	She's a boundary breaker, the first black woman to play for England and one of the first
1:28.5	women to summarise on men's international matches alongside her former playing colleague, Isha Goa.
1:33.8	Her sporting career was illustrious. She was part of the England team that won the 2009
	...

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