Bethany Alicia Langston (born 6 September 1992) is an English cricketer who played six matches for the England women's cricket team: twice in 2013 and four times in 2016. Predominantly a medium-pace bowler, she began her cricket career with

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

in 2009, before moving to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

in 2016. She also played in the

Women's Cricket Super League The Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL), known as the Kia Super League (KSL) for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional women's Twenty20 cricket competition in England and Wales operated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The comp ...

for both the Loughborough Lightning and the

Yorkshire Diamonds Yorkshire Diamonds were an English women's Twenty20 cricket team based in Leeds, Yorkshire. They were formed in 2016 to compete in the inaugural season of the Women's Cricket Super League. They played their home matches at grounds across Yorkshir ...

Life and career

Bethany Alicia Langston was born on 6 September 1992 in

Harold Wood Harold Wood is a suburban neighbourhood of Romford in the London Borough of Havering. It is situated east-northeast of Charing Cross and near to the Greater London boundary with Essex. History Toponymy The name Harold Wood was recorded in ab ...

. She attended Hall Mead School, and started playing cricket at Upminster Cricket Club, where her three older brothers played, and her parents were vice presidents. She later joined Loughton Cricket Club, who had a strong women's team. She made her debut for the

team in women's county cricket in 2009. Four years later, she was included in a 21-player "England Women's Performance Squad", and was chosen as a member of the England team to take part in the 2013–14 tour of the West Indies. She played in two

Women's Twenty20 International Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 International is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The first Twent ...

s during the tour: the only ones of her career. In the first, a tied match, she opened the bowling for England, and took one wicket. In the second, an eight-wicket loss, she bowled four overs without taking a wicket, while conceding 28 runs. After her tour of the West Indies, Langston suffered a stress fracture in her back, and although she remained a part of the England set-up, she was not selected as part of a squad again until 2015, when she took part in the England women's academy trip to Dubai to face an equivalent Australian team. She was again part of the academy squad the following year, travelling to Sri Lanka to take part in a tri-series against Australia A and Sri Lanka, during which she claimed eight wickets at an average of 17.12. For the 2016 domestic season, Langston switched from Essex to

, a move that she explained as allowing her to keep playing top-level cricket: "Unfortunately, Essex had gone down a couple of divisions and I wanted to try and play first-division cricket." Later that year, Langston was recalled to the England team for the 2016–17 tour of the West Indies: she was initially expected to have to miss the tour due to a broken thumb, but it healed well, and she was included in the squad. Ultimately, Langston did not play during the tour, but retained her place in the squad for the subsequent visit to Sri Lanka. She made her One Day International debut during the first match of the series, taking one wicket during a large win for England. She made all four of her One Day International appearances during that tour, picking up one more wicket. After the conclusion of the series, she was granted a "rookie contract" with England, which the England coach Mark Robinson said allowed them "to financially support players who sit just above the England Women's senior academy squad, but who have not quite hit the level required to win a full central contract." After spending the 2016–17 season with the

Otago Sparks The Otago Sparks is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand region of Otago and the surrounding area. They play their home games at University Oval, Dunedin. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competit ...

in New Zealand, Langston was named as part of the England squad for the

2017 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international women's cricket tournament that took place in England from 24 June to 23 July 2017. It was the eleventh edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and the third to be held in England (after ...

. England went on to win the tournament, though Langston did not play. In 2018, after playing two seasons in the

with the Loughborough Lightning, Langston was moved to the

, in a switch described by the head of the league as helping "to ensure the best balance between the six sides and to maintain a fair and competitive competition". In 2019, Langston's England central contract was not renewed. In 2020 Langston was chosen as part of the

Northern Diamonds Northern Diamonds are a women's cricket team that represent the traditional areas of the North East and Yorkshire, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at Headingley, the Riverside, Rose ...

squad in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. In 2021, she was Northern Diamonds' leading wicket-taker in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 13 wickets, as well as playing for

Northern Superchargers Northern Superchargers are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Leeds. The team represents the traditional areas of North East and Yorkshire in The Hundred competition, which first took place during the 2021 English and Wel ...

in The Hundred. In December 2021, Langston was named in England's A squad for their tour to Australia, with the matches being played alongside the

Women's Ashes The Women's Ashes is the perpetual trophy in women's international cricket series between England and Australia. The name derives from the historic precedent of the Ashes in male cricket and, until 2013, was similarly decided exclusively on the ...

. In April 2022, she was bought by the

for the 2022 season of The Hundred.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langston, Beth 1992 births Living people English women cricketers England women One Day International cricketers England women Twenty20 International cricketers Essex women cricketers Yorkshire women cricketers Loughborough Lightning cricketers Yorkshire Diamonds cricketers Northern Diamonds cricketers Otago Sparks cricketers Northern Superchargers cricketers