“Maybe down the line,” Isa Guha laughs when I ask her, sitting outside a cafe in Hampstead, if she’d ever publish a book. “I’ve always grappled with that idea.” I — playing the clichéd go-getting journalist — offer up my services, if she ever may need a ghostwriter. It’d be quite the story to tell after all; to unravel the past, psyche, and inner manifestations of the first British Asian woman to play cricket for her nation.

Now retired, with a World Cup winners medal on the mantelpiece, Guha is amongst the most cherished broadcasters in UK sport. This summer alone the 39-year-old has led the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage, worked on James Anderson’s last-ever test match, and will soon be heading over to Paris for the Olympic Games. “I’d quite like to go on holiday more,” she quips when deconstructing her choc-a-bloc summer.

Guha will also be presenting The Hundred, British cricket’s renaissance attempt that appears to be paying dividends for the sport. Formed in 2021, the new interpretation of the game sees a shorter time frame — both teams bowl just 100 balls each — and a structure and quintessence that’s closer to franchise than the systemic lineation of the centuries-old sport. Whilst many stalwart cricket fans may still hold doubts about its authenticity and see The Hundred as a monetary, commercialist venture, Guha sees the new format and aesthetic as a much-needed renovation to ensure the sport’s popularity continues to augment, and is taken into demographics that it has previously struggled to allure.

“I think sports are always looking to find ways to attract new audiences, and that’s what [The Hundred] was trying to do, as well as the commercial aspect of it, no question,” Guha admits. “We’ve seen what has happened with cricket around the world with the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash in Australia, and how big that is for visibility of the game. So that’s what The Hundred is trying to do here in the UK, and I think it’s done its job in terms of bringing new people to the game, making it seem fun and interesting. There’s a large majority [of people] who aren’t out-and-out cricket fans, who perceive it to be quite a slow and difficult sport to understand. Whereas [The Hundred] makes it a little bit more appealing; it’s colourful, entertaining and you don’t necessarily need to know all the rules. For the women’s game in particular it has been exceptional.”

The athlete-turned-media personality has been a totemic presence in the rise of women’s cricket, and a vocal figure-point in promoting equality and celebrating the female game. Since her childhood, she has had to prove herself, surrounded by doubters in a male-dominated arena. “I started with the boys team,” she recalls. “I think my dad was reluctant initially, but my mum convinced him. They were always really supportive of me being part of the boys team. In those early days, I remember being quite intimidated, but the thing that kept me going back was the fact that I could get the boys out and that made me feel good [laughs]. I used to love seeing the fear in their eyes because, you know, they didn’t want to get out by a girl, basically. I had parents from the opposition team asking why there was a girl on the team and things like that, but I had a lot of support from the boys around me and the families around me.”

From playing for her county’s men’s team at 13 years of age, Guha rose through the ranks of women’s cricket and, throughout the years that followed, sculpted a decorated legacy, spending her domestic career with Berkshire and becoming revered for her work with the national team. The first British Asian woman to represent her country, she won the World Cup in 2009 for England, an essential cog of a team that rose from ragtag underdogs to the global pinnacle. It’s undoubtedly and unsurprisingly a career highlight for Guha. “We went from being a pretty average side to being the best team in the world,” she remembers. “That took a seven-year journey, and all of us pulling together. Those memories will last forever; that journey to becoming the best. That’s a bond that will last forever.”

I’ve always wondered — as a keen but fundamentally mediocre footballer in my teen heyday — how does one become the best at their sport? Is it a matter of complete confidence in themselves? A chiselled support system? Natural talent? I query Guha. “It’s a mixture of everything. I think it’s a mentality you have as a young player, or early on in whatever you’re pursuing, that allows you to take it to the highest level. In anything that I’ve done, I’ve always just wanted to be the best I can be. That takes perseverance, the courage of being prepared to fail, and it takes the openness to be vulnerable. Recognising when you’re struggling and being able to ask for support. Preparation is obviously really important too, visualisation, watching and learning from people that you aspire to be like.”

One of the key junctures in Guha’s life, she recalls, came as a teen when her mother “gave [her] advice at a crucial moment,” when she was feeling like she wasn’t fitting in. An indelible influence on Guha’s success and disposition, her mum sadly passed away in 2019. “I knew that I wanted to do something in her honour,” the daughter shares. “The only way I was able to get to where I got to was because of the support she gave in that moment. And that’s why mentoring is so important. To know you’ve got someone who has got your back and is looking after you in the sport.” From this earnestness came Take Her Lead, Guha’s philanthropic initiative founded in 2022. The organisation “is there to advance equity and diversity in cricket and increased participation for women and girls,” an aspiration at the nucleus of Guha’s personal and professional ethos.

Occasionally a headline maker but only for the right reasons, Guha made a splash online earlier this year with her perfectly poised response to misogynistic remarks aimed at women sports pundits from former footballer, Joey Barton. Guha’s fervent reply received plaudits across the sporting spectrum for highlighting her own journey and observations. “I’ve been so lucky with the opportunities that I’ve had,” she says. “I kept being given the chance. There are male pundits who come in, and because they don’t have the broadcast experience they might not get the point across as well. With all of these things, I just feel that more patience is important. And sometimes women get targeted more because it’s male dominated because they are seen to be different but what I’ve realised on any broadcast is that you need a mixture of perspectives to reflect the audience.”

Although now a confident broadcaster and presenter (and sometimes pundit and commentator), on-screen comfortability wasn’t always a breeze for Guha, who, like anyone, has had to spend time becoming acquainted with the craft’s intricacies. “When I see former players getting into broadcast now and sometimes it doesn’t come as naturally, I think — that’s fine, just give them time because I genuinely believe that anyone can do it. Because I certainly wasn’t the finished article when I started, but I kept being given opportunities, and because of that I wanted to learn and I wanted to repay that faith.”

With the Olympics kicking off this Friday (26th July), and a busy calendar for the foreseeable future, it’s certain that the British public will be seeing a lot more of Isa Guha. And one thing’s for sure; whatever she does, she will keep breaking new ground — for women, for her culture, and for her own entertainment. “I’ve definitely flourished more in [being the underdog],” she muses as I finish my lukewarm Americano. “I guess I have always been attracted to situations where someone hasn’t done it before, like — there hasn’t been a female in that space before or it’s been something that people haven’t ventured into as much. And I tackle that in broadcasting now. Anything that I’m part of, I’m always trying to find ways to make it better and to improve it. I guess that’s what makes it fun and interesting for me.”