Sophie Natasha Luff (born 6 December 1993) is an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays for

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and

Southern Brave Southern Brave is a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Southampton. The team represents the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Hampshire and Sussex in the newly founded The Hundred (cricket), The Hundred compet ...

as a right-handed batter.

Career

Luff came from a cricketing family in

Lympsham Lympsham is a village and civil parish six miles west of Axbridge and six miles south-east of Weston-super-Mare, close to the River Axe in Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Wick where Wick Farmhouse dates from the mid 18th ...

, near

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

; both her father and brother also play cricket. During her childhood, she played boys cricket with Weston-super-Mare Cricket Club and captained the boys' team at Hugh Sexey’s Middle School; she later also played alongside the boys at

The Kings of Wessex Academy The Kings of Wessex Academy, formerly known as the Kings of Wessex School, is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school in Cheddar, Somerset, England. In 2015, it had 1,176 pupils aged 13 to 18, of both sexes and all ability levels includi ...

. She attracted the attention of both Somerset and England, and represented England schoolgirls and later featured as part of the England academy, captaining both sides during her time with them. After making her debut in English county cricket in 2009, aged 15, when she scored a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

, Luff maintained a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

over fifty in 2010 and 2014, and over one hundred in 2015 and 2017. She studied at

Cardiff Metropolitan University Cardiff Metropolitan University () is a public university located in Cardiff, Wales. Formerly known as the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC; , ) which was established in 1996. The university offers degree courses in a variety of d ...

, gaining a

First class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

degree in Sport and Physical Education. During 2015, she scored her maiden

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

century, reaching 138

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and

the Cricket Society The Cricket Society is a charitable organisation founded in 1945 as the Society of Cricket Statisticians at Great Scotland Yard, London. It has grown steadily to be the largest body of its kind in the cricket world. The Cricket Society now has ov ...

named her the "most promising young female cricketer" of 2015. She joined the

Western Storm Western Storm were a women's cricket team that represented South West England and Wales, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic cricket. They primarily played their home matches at the County Ground, Taunton, the County Ground, Bristol ...

in the newly formed

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 ...

in 2016 and has featured for them ever since, playing as part of their

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

winning team, including an unbeaten 30 in the final. According to Jamie Ramage of ''Women's Criczone'', Luff's performances were an "integral part" of Western Storm's success in 2016 and 2017. In early 2018, she was named as Women’s and Girls Performance Head Coach for

Somerset Cricket Board The Somerset Cricket Board (SCB) is the governing body for all recreational cricket in the historic county of Somerset, and was established in 1994 under its first Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding. Following a restructuring in January ...

. Luff became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Western Storm ahead of the 2020 season. In 2021, she scored 211 runs for Somerset in the

2021 Women's Twenty20 Cup The 2021 Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2021 Vitality Women's County T20, was the 12th cricket Women's Twenty20 Cup tournament, taking place in April and May, with 36 teams taking part: 34 county teams plus Scotland ...

, the fourth-highest in the competition. She captained

Welsh Fire Welsh Fire () are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Cardiff. The team represents the historic counties of Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Somerset in the newly founded competition called The Hundred, which took place for t ...

in the inaugural season of The Hundred. In the final

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was an English and Welsh women's cricket domestic competition, named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, who died in 2017. The Trophy was held from 2020 to 2024, and was the premier women's 50-ov ...

match of the 2021 season, Luff scored 157 * against Sunrisers, her

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

high score. In April 2022, she was signed by the

London Spirit London Spirit are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in North London. The team represents the historic counties of Middlesex, Essex and Northamptonshire in The Hundred, which took place for the first time during the 2021 English and Welsh ...

for the 2022 season of The Hundred. Luff was the fifth-highest run-scorer in the

2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup The 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022 Vitality Women's County T20, was the 13th edition of the Women's Twenty20 Cup, an English women's cricket Women's Twenty20, Twenty20 domestic competition. It took place in ...

, with 239 runs, and the fifth-highest run-scorer in the

2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was the third edition of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, an English women's cricket 50-over domestic competition, which took place between 2 July and 25 September 2022. It featured eight teams playing in ...

, with 268 runs. She made her

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

high score against Sunrisers in the

Charlotte Edwards Cup The Charlotte Edwards Cup, initially named the Women's Regional T20, was an English and Welsh women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition, held annually from 2021 to 2024. The tournament was named after England's former captain and most capped ...

, scoring 78 from 54 deliveries, as well as hitting 100 * against the same opposition in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. In the winter of 2022–23, Luff played Premier Cricket for

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

, and was later signed by

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

to play in the

Women's National Cricket League The Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) is the national domestic 50-over competition for women's cricket in Australia. Featuring seven teams—one from every state, plus the Australian Capital Territory—each season's winner is awarded th ...

. She made her debut for the side on 18 December 2022, against

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. On 19 September 2024, Luff was announced as the first player given a professional contract with Somerset's new women's team, which was created as part of a restructuring of women's domestic cricket in England and Wales due to start in 2025 and that will see a move away from regional clubs.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luff, Sophie 1993 births Living people Cricketers from Taunton People educated at The Kings of Wessex School People educated at Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School Somerset women cricket captains Somerset women cricketers Western Storm cricketers Welsh Fire cricketers London Spirit cricketers New South Wales Breakers cricketers Cricketers from Somerset