Kent Cricket have sadly announced the death of former Kent Women and England Women captain, Cecilia Robinson, at the age of 97.

The first cricketer born in Canterbury to play Test cricket for England, Robinson represented Kent between 1949 & 1967, in a career spanning three decades for club and country.

A right-handed batter, Robinson scored over 1,000 runs and averaged over 50.00 with the bat in her Kent career, playing in thirty officially scored matches for the county.

Her Kent-best of 100 not out came in just her fourth Kent appearance, against a Women’s Cricket Association representative side at Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club in July 1952.

She captained the Horses on six occasions that were officially scored, most famously against a touring Australia side in 1963, in a drawn one-day match also at ‘The Vine’. There is no doubt that Robinson captained Kent on many more occasions, but sadly these were not recorded in full.

For England, Robinson scored two Women’s Test centuries in fourteen matches for her country, scoring 829 runs at an average of 33.15. Her Test-best of 105 came in the first Women’s Ashes Test against Australia at Scarborough in June 1951.

Robinson led her country on six occasions, once in a Women’s Test against Australia in 1958.

After retiring from her cricket career, she became Games Mistress at Roedean School in East Sussex, eventually becoming head of Roedean’s Junior House, and was also Women’s captain of Tenterden Golf Club.

In March 2020, she was awarded Kent Women Cap number 7 for her services to Kent Cricket.

Kent Cricket’s Chairman, Simon Philip, said: “Cecilia was one of the pioneers of women’s cricket in our county, and will always be remembered as the first Canterbury-born cricketer to play a Test match for England.

“The longevity of her career and her performances, especially in Ashes Tests, make her a real legend of women’s cricket in Kent.

“She will have inspired many future generations of female cricketers in our county, and is an intrinsic part of the history of the most successful women’s county side in England.”

The thoughts of everyone at Kent Sports News are with Cecilia’s family and friends at this sad time.

Picture supplied by Kent Cricket.