Ebony-Jewel Rainford-Brent
The cricketing career of Ebony-Jewel Rainford-Brent contains many notable achievements, such as the first black woman to play for the England cricket team, captain of Surrey and a member of the world cup winning England team in 2009. Ebony-Jewel Rainford-Brent is available to be booked for engagements and events through London based agency, MN2S.
Rainford-Brent was introduced to cricket through the charity Cricket for Change while in primary school when aged just 9, and continued playing at the Grey Coat Hospital School in Westminster. A natural sportswoman, she excelled at many sports in her youth, including football and basketball and even represented London at the English Schools Athletics Championships in several events.
Having decided to focus her sporting talent on cricket, however, she suffered a considerable setback with a serious back injury at 19 years old, and was advised by doctors to give up sport all together. Nevertheless, seeking many different opinions, she was eventually discovered by the Talented Athletes Scholarship Scheme (TASS) and helped her to receive the treatment she needed to recover. She went on to complete her Chemistry degree at UCL and to represent her country at the 2007 World Series in Chennai, India.
From early beginnings with the under-11 team, she continued to play for Surrey Country Cricket for her whole playing career, captain of the team when it was promoted to the Country Championship Division One in 2011. After being part of the winning side at the 9th ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2009, she and the England team went on to win the 2009 ICC Women’s World Twenty20, the Natwest One Day series against Australia and to retain the Ashes.
Since her retirement, Rainford-Brent has established herself as a strong celebrity talent in the world of broadcasting. She has appeared as guest presenter on BBC Newsround, as pundit for Sky Sports and BBC Breakfast and has written articles for BBC Sport, Cricket World and many more. After initially working with the highly regarded Test Match Special (TMS) on BBC Radio 5 Live as a women’s match summariser she has since worked as summariser for men’s matches as well and will be part of the expert team for the men’s 2015 Cricket World Cup.
Beside her successful career and port retirement media work, Rainford-Brent has helped to implement national programmes to assist disadvantaged and disabled young people to access sport as a cricket executive for the Lord’s Taverners charity. She also continues her presence at Surrey working as Director for Women’s Cricket, and was appointed trustee of the England and Wales Cricket trust (EWCT). She is also an ambassador for Beyond Sport, member of Marylebone Cricket Club and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Unsurprisingly, Rainford-Brent is in popular demand as a celebrity to appear at private and corporate engagements, as an after dinner speaker engaging her audiences in the success of her playing career and her many interesting ventures and hard work after retirement. If you are interested in booking Ebony-Jewel Rainford-Brent to appear at you next entertainment event, please contact an agent at MN2S Talent Agency.