Laura Kelly MacLeod (was Newton; 27 November 1977) is an English former cricketer who played as a right-handed batter and

off break Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to ...

bowler. She appeared in 13

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

, 73 WODIs and 3 WT20Is games for the

English women's cricket team The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association ...

. She played domestic cricket for Lancashire and Cheshire,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and Lancashire Thunder. MacLeod was born in

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture ...

. She made her one-day international debut in 1997 against South Africa and her Test debut in 1999 against India before touring Australia. She scored one test century and nine one day half centuries and developed over her career from a middle order batter to an opener. She took 12 test wickets and 19 in one day internationals, changing bowling styles from medium pace to off spin over time. MacLeod was part of the 2005 Ashes winning squad before retiring from the international game in May 2007.

Post-playing career

Cricket Administration Since retiring as a player, MacLeod has held a number of roles in the sport including Regional Growth Executive (England & Wales Cricket Board), Head of Women's and Girls Pathway (Warwickshire County Cricket Club), Chair of the MCC Women's Cricket Committee and currently Director of Women's Cricket (Central Sparks). Following the announcement by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) of the new Tier 1 Counties within the women's domestic game, Warwickshire have announced that MacLeod will lead their new Bears Women professional side.

References

External links

*
MacLeod to lead new Bears Women Professional side https://edgbaston.com/news/macleod-named-bears-women-head-of-cricket/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Laura 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Nantwich English women cricketers England women Test cricketers England women One Day International cricketers England women Twenty20 International cricketers Lancashire and Cheshire women cricketers Cheshire women cricketers Staffordshire women cricketers Lancashire women cricketers Lancashire Thunder cricketers Sportspeople from Congleton