Clare Joanne Connor (born 1 September 1976) is an English former
cricketer
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
who batted right-handed and bowled
slow left arm spin. She held the presidency of
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...
from 2021 until 2022. She made her
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
debut in 1995 and played her first
Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
that winter. She achieved a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
against
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 1999 and captained England from 2000 until her retirement from international cricket in 2006.
[ BBC News article, 13 March 2006](_blank)
/ref>
She is currently managing director of Women's Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...
(ECB).
Early life and career
Connor was born on 1 September 1976 in Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...
, England. She studied English at the University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1998. During her time at Manchester, Clare was a resident at Hulme Hall.
Connor taught English, P.S.H.E and PE at Brighton College
Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...
while heading up their PR operations, and also spent time working for Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
.
Cricket career
Connor first came to prominence by captaining the U16 at Preston Nomads
Preston Nomads Cricket Club is a cricket club based in the Village of Fulking in West Sussex, England. Founded in 1927, the club's first XI plays in the Premier League of the Sussex Cricket League which is an accredited ECB Premier League, ...
, a leading club side in Sussex. The youth manager, Malcolm Reid, was responsible for this appointment and the move was supported by the club. She also played for the Brighton College
Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...
(men's) team a little before her England career began. She has also appeared in The Cricketer Cup
''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket.
The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner ...
(in 2002), the first woman ever to do so. In 2004/05 she captained the England side to the semi-finals of the 2005 Women's World Cup in South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, and that winter also played state cricket for Central Districts Women
The Central Hinds are the women's representative cricket team of the Central Districts Cricket Association, based in central New Zealand. They play their home games at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, McLean Park, Napier, Fitzherbert Park, Palmers ...
in New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
In 2006, she became the first woman to play for the all-star charity side, Lashings World XI
The Lashings World XI is a cricket team captained by the former England and Surrey fast bowler Martin Bicknell.
It was formed in 1984 as a pub team but evolved into an international XI after signing Richie Richardson in 1996. Now a corporate ente ...
.[Lashings player biography]
Honours
In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Connor was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) "for services to Women's Cricket". In the 2006 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) "for services to Cricket"; at the same time, the men's winning Ashes Team also received honours. As the current director of English women's cricket, following the team's success in winning the 2017 World Cup she was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours
The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...
, again for services to cricket.
On 24 June 2020, Connor was announced as the next President of the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...
. She assumed the office on 1 October 2021, replacing Kumar Sangakkara
Kumara Chokshananda Sangakkara ( si, කුමාර් චොක්ශනාද සංගක්කාර; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan cricket commentator, former professional cricketer, businessman, ICC Hall of Fame inductee and the ...
, whose term was extended for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. She also became the first woman to be appointed as the President of MCC in the 233 years of MCC club's history.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, Clare
1976 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Brighton
People educated at Brighton College
Alumni of the University of Manchester
Central Districts Hinds cricketers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
England women One Day International cricketers
England women Test cricketers
England women Twenty20 International cricketers
Sussex women cricketers
Women's One Day International cricket hat-trick takers
Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club