Somerset & I: Sophie Luff

'When I drive through the Taunton gates, It feels like I'm driving home'

Western Storm captain Sophie Luff. Image courtesy of Harry Trump. Find him on Instagram or check out his website.

“Morning Sophie.”  It is a tiny thing really, but hearing those two words brings me so much joy - a disproportionate amount, some might argue! It doesn’t matter who the steward is, or whether I’m arriving for training, a match or a day in the commentary box: that greeting gets me every time I arrive for work. I’m sat here smiling at the thought of it.

Why? Because when I drive through the Taunton gates it feels like I’m driving into home.  It is the familiarity of the surroundings and the people.   It’s where I started my journey all those years ago. The connection I have with the club is something I cherish. The people make the environment what it is, and I love getting to know them all.

The Western Storm girls give me a bit of stick, actually. Being from Somerset, whenever I walk out to bat at Taunton, the cheer is just that tiny bit louder. Only a little but it’s more than enough to make the hairs on my neck stand to attention. Every. Single. Time. A cliché, yes - but it is also true.  

It helps that a Taunton crowd loves a two so much. The girls talk about that, too, and it plays right into my strengths. Most of the compliments I get are about my running between the wickets. I’m not sure if that is a good or a bad thing, though?!

Batting at home is special. But it also comes served with a dollop of pressure.  Because of my roots, people want me to do well there, and I want desperately to perform. I’m still yet to make a professional century at the Cooper Associates County Ground, and I’m going to do everything I can to change that before I pack the bat away for the final time. I once reached three figures there for Somerset but that was a while back, and only about a dozen people saw it.

Growing up I watched so many of the men’s teams celebrate milestones. I was a regular down at the ground, you see, and was rarely without my autograph book and mini bat.  Back then kids were free to roam, and we’d gather in groups by boundary fielders, thrusting pens in their direction and trying to have a little chat.

I must have got Steffan Jones’s autograph 100 times, and I ended up working closely with him when I first got onto the Emerging Player Programme.  That was an eye opening experience as a 13-year-old girl, I can tell you!

Darren Veness was a huge part of that, too, and I absolutely love Daz. Don’t be fooled by the hard exterior he tries to give off: he’s like a cuddly teddy bear.

That said, I never wanted to get on the wrong side of him.

I like to think Daz appreciated my work ethic. I always wanted to keep up with the boys and never wanted to shirk something just because I was a girl. There is one session that I still remember vividly.  From nowhere, Daz suddenly declared “right, we’re going to do 200 squats. Give me 200.”  He lined us up – people like Abes, James Haggett, Jake Lintott - in the indoor centre at Taunton and we beasted them out. My attitude to squatting is what won Daz over I reckon!

Before I reached the EPP, I’d played my cricket at Weston-Super-Mare CC and at Hugh Sexey, my middle school.  We had a teaching assistant there called Gareth Waterfield, who’d played rugby for the England Deaf team. He ran all the school’s sports teams and made me captain of the boy’s cricket team.

I first played for Somerset as a 12-year-old for the under-13s. The overlap with the Bath CC women’s team was huge at that point, and so I moved there for my club cricket. It felt like the best thing I could have done at the time.

A club side featuring just a couple of World Cup winners!

We travelled a lot, often heading up to London for games, but it was worth it. The cricket was such a high standard.  World Cup winners in waiting Fran Wilson and Anya Shrubshole were both teammates, and they had former England players like Jackie Hawker and Hannah Lloyd. That led to my Somerset senior women’s debut aged 15. Wonderful memories - essentially, I’d be playing with the same people but wearing a different shirt!

Some people assume you must be a ‘cricket badger’ if you play the game professionally, but I wouldn’t describe myself as that. I absolutely loved being in an environment brimming with players of that quality, with people who wanted to be the very best, though.

There was no such thing as professional women’s cricket back then, but playing for England was what inspired me to keep working hard. I was playing alongside people who had lived that dream, and that was a huge motivator. That motivation remains present today.  

I was never one to pester people with lots of questions. I like to think that, instead, I’d watch how people went about their business and soak things in.  In part, perhaps that stemmed a little bit from a lack of confidence.  I was a shy kid, and I definitely didn’t believe in my ability. It might sound odd, but I enjoyed the boys’ environment a little bit more because I had a point to prove.

In the girls’ game, I just didn’t trust that I was as good as my statistics were saying. I’m not sure why that was. I had some real challenges with self-belief, with trusting that I could get to the next level. I was getting selected to play in higher age groups and I went to the Super 4s – a national under 19s tournament played every summer – but the self-doubt always lingered close by. Cricket is a challenging game in that respect.

In a way, I think I felt judged. Take training sessions, for example. I knew that my coaches were there to help, to suggest things that might improve my game.  But I’m a perfectionist and so never wanted to get anything wrong. I felt that, even within the safety of a training environment, I would be judged for that. It wasn’t true, but that is how I felt.

My coping mechanism was to describe myself as more of a bowler. When you’re netting, if you bowl a wide it doesn’t matter as the next ball comes quickly. But if you’re a batter, well, all eyes are on you. If you get out, everyone sees that. 

Sophie Luff…the bowler!

Has that held me back in my career a little bit? Probably. Actually, no, it definitely has at times. I’ve lacked that little bit of freedom to explore, although I’m improving on that front. The development of the professional women’s game has unchained me a little.  I can’t afford to stand still. What was successful for me four years ago when we first turned pro, won’t keep me in the game. I’ve got to proactively evolve.

It's a wonderful trait of the younger plays who come in now – people like Sophia Smale and Dani Gibson don’t fear failure. They play with such a free spirit and that really keeps me on my toes. I relish it!

Is it perfect? No. Cricket is a difficult game, a challenging game, and so I don’t think those feelings will ever truly go. But is there progress? Absolutely.

Speaking of progress, I was made up with the outcome of Project Darwin, and hopefully I’ll be at Taunton for the next few years. I love playing for Storm, but wearing the dragon again will be really special. I’ve captained and walked out as a Somerset player but never professionally. The opportunity to do that excites me in a way I can’t properly articulate. I started my career here as a 12-year-old girl and I could potentially finish my career here as a professional. Pretty cool, right?