Emma Lamb: They thought I was the scorer, now I’m a professional

ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY: Emma Lamb made history in 2015 as the first woman to play in the Cheshire County Cricket League but she wasn't always warmly received in the men's game. Now she's one of five professional players for North West Thunder

 In April 2020, Emma Lamb received an England rookie contract.

The North West Thunder allrounder had been identified alongside Sophia Dunkley, Alice Davidson-Richards, Linsey Smith and Bryony Smith as the future of the national side.

Two months later, she was one of 29 cricketers to be awarded a regional retainer by the ECB – a giant leap forward in the quest to professionalise women’s cricket.

It was all a far cry from five years prior, when her very attendance at men’s club matches opened her up to abuse and ridicule.  

"I’ve had a lot of issues in men’s cricket," she says. "[At one club] there was an old man, who was quite high up the club, who sent in a letter complaining about me playing second-team cricket, saying it shouldn’t be happening – the next game I got 50-odd!  

^{Emma Lamb batting for England Women's Academy against Australia A in 2019}

"But I’ve had a lot of experiences like that. Certain places I’ve played just don’t like a woman playing, they look at you like you’re not going to be any good or like you’re filling in, or they ask, 'is she your scorer?' But Bramhall, or Alderley Edge where I play now, are really supportive and clubs have opened their eyes and seen I’m good enough. It’s just a matter of more women playing and more exposure to it."

In June 2015, Lamb carved out her own slice of history, becoming the first woman to play in the Cheshire County Cricket League.

Representing Bramhall CC alongside her brother Danny, himself a pro with Lancashire, the brother-sister duo contributed a combined 61 runs to their side’s total of 139 before helping to bowl opponents Neston out for 118. But unfortunately, the world of men’s cricket wasn’t always receptive to her name on the teamsheet.  

"I remember her getting a mouthful from some of the lads," Danny recalls.

"Some of these club cricketers, they’re quite confident when they’re fielding but when it’s their turn to bat, they’re not as confident… there's some idiots about."

Women's Regional team guide 2021: North West Thunder

Born into a sport-mad family, her father – a club cricketer she jokingly (or perhaps not) describes as "not very good"– encouraged Lamb and her older brother to play a variety of sports.  

Emma favoured badminton and netball, playing the former to county level and the latter throughout college; for Danny it was football, joining Blackburn Rovers as a scholar aged 16 before a short stint as understudy to Spaniard David Raya – now first-choice at Brentford – convinced him to cut his losses and concentrate his energies elsewhere.   

However, for both siblings, separated by two school years, cricket was a universal love. Lamb junior joined the Lancashire pathway at aged 10, easily slotting into the under-13s side, and made her senior debut in 2012 at the tender age of 14.

A year later, she scored her maiden Red Rose century – 113 not out against Durham in the County Championship – and in 2014, she joined her brother in the Lancashire academy, following in the trailblazing footsteps of England international, Kate Cross.   

"I was the only girl in a bunch of lads," she recalls. "It was Dan, Matt Parkinson, Saqib Mahmood, basically I was facing our men’s first team in the nets! Back then the girl’s setup wasn’t as good, so the only way for me to improve was to play with the boys. That was quite good for me."

Improve she has.

Representing Lancashire Thunder in the Kia Super League between 2016 and 2019, Lamb scored 329 runs – a total bettered only by international duo Amy Satterthwaite and Harmanpreet Kaur – and took 21 wickets in 30 appearances.

Meanwhile in 2017, aged just 19, she was instrumental in Lancashire’s Women’s County Championship and T20 Cup triumphs, scoring 333 runs and collecting 13 wickets across the two competitions.   

However, by her own admission her 2020 season was disappointing, the highs of earning a pair of professional contracts and earning a spot in England’s summer training squad – one of only three uncapped players selected – offset by the lows of her limited time in the middle.  

Two matches, nine runs, zero wickets. A stark contrast to the 416 runs and 21 wickets she amassed the year before.  

"I was part of the preparation and warm-up in the England bubble, which was a good learning experience, but I didn’t get to do an awful lot of playing," she says. "Because I was part of that environment, I didn’t get to do everything I wanted.  

Season preview podcast: North West Thunder

"When you’re in that environment you’re not first choice. Normally I open but I was batting at six or seven, and with the bowling, they needed to bowl the players they were actually going to play so I didn’t get many opportunities.   

"I’d take every opportunity I could, but you can only do what you get given and I think some of the other contracted girls were in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint trophy and got loads of games whereas I was in the bubble and didn’t get to play as many. It was a rubbish year for cricket in general but that’s just elite sport. It’s not always fair and we learn from it."

It’s unsurprising, therefore, that after pulling on Thunder colours just twice in 2020 and enjoying a winter of professional training, she is chomping at the bit for the new season.

"All of us contracted girls have been looking forward to it because it’s the main event for us. We’re just excited to get a full season and to get going.  

"It’s been a really good winter; the coaching staff have been amazing, and we’ve been able to focus solely on cricket. The only bad thing was we had to train in bubbles, so we didn’t get to see the whole squad which was a bummer, and you get bored of facing the same bowlers every week. But I can’t really complain, it was as good as it could have been!"

^{Older brother Danny celebrates scoring his century against Kent in the County Championship}

Of course, she already has a handful of matches under belt in 2021, enjoying team and personal success in the T20 County Championship. Lancashire topped the North Group, winning four matches and losing four to the weather.  

Lamb collected five wickets - the benefits of working with former Lancashire spinner Stephen Parry over the winter on display for all to see - and scored 233 runs, including an unbeaten 119 against North East Warriors, struck two days after Danny hit his maiden first-class century in Canterbury.    

"I’ve not had a century for ages and in a T20 as well, so it definitely felt good!” she says. “Dan hit one the same week.  

"It was funny actually. My physio does a bit with the men, and he said, 'your Danny got a hundred' and I was like I know, I’ve seen it. Any time he does well I get someone coming up to me – imagine if it was the other way round? I guarantee no one goes up to him! So, my physio said if I got a hundred, he’d go and rub it in [Danny’s] face!"

Looking ahead to the season, which could see Lamb play up to 26 domestic matches, she is looking forward to cementing her reputation as an allrounder and pulling on the Manchester Originals jersey in The Hundred.

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"I’ve worked so much on my bowling; I feel more confident and I’m definitely counting myself as an allrounder," Lamb says. "I made a few really subtle changes this winter with my alignment and actually bowling the ball. As a spinner a lot of people just float the ball but now, I’m putting energy into it and it’s good to see it coming off in games.  

"And The Hundred is so exciting – it’s different and I’m just excited to have fun on the pitch and play with the overseas [players]. Lizelle Lee - who absolutely whacks it, I used to hate bowling at her – I’m glad she’s on our team, and Harman [Harmanpreet Kaur], we’ve got a good set of overseas!"

However, for now, she is focused on the task in hand: Thunder’s season opener against Western Storm in Bristol, riding the wave of Lancashire’s county form deep into the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and enjoying this high while it lasts.   

"Even playing Southern Vipers, I’m really confident," Lamb states. "We’ve been doing really well as a team and I’m excited and confident. Once you get into the habit it of winning, everything just flows; once you’re in a rut, you can’t get out of losing. Hopefully, we can keep this winning streak up, I’m very confident for us."