Audrey Disbury


Audrey Delph Disbury was an English cricketer who played Women's Test cricket for the England women's cricket team. She served in the Women's Royal Naval Service and played cricket for a variety of domestic teams.

Early life and naval career

Disbury was born at Bedford and educated at Bedford High School. Her family owned a bakery but after training as a nurse at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford she joined the Women's Royal Naval Service. She served as an Air Mechanic with the Fleet Air Arm at Lee-on-Solent before being promoted to Petty Officer and transferring to Chatham Dockyard.

Cricket career

Whilst at Chatham Disbury first played for Kent Women cricket team, making a total of 22 appearances for the county side, eventually serving as captain. She played for a variety of other teams throughout a career which lasted from 1954 to 1976.
She toured Australia, New Zealand and South Africa with England. She played 10 Test matches between 1957/58 and 1968/69 and was the first member of the WRNS to play for the national side. She also made six one-day appearances for the International XI women's cricket team, captaining the team at the 1973 World Cup. She was a "hard hitting" opening batsman and bowled off-breaks. She later served as a Test match selector for England.

Later life

After leaving the WRNS she lived in Ashford and ran a guest house with her partner. She played contract bridge and golf and captained Kent County Golf Association in 1996–1997 and was President of the association between 2012 and 2014. She died at Ashford in June 2016 aged 82. Her brother Brian played county cricket for Kent.