| Intro | Cricketer |
| Is |
Athlete Cricketer |
| From | South Africa |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | female |
| Birth |
28 August 1940, South Africa |
| Age | 80 years |
Jennifer Anne Gove (born 28 August 1940) is a former South Africa women’s Test cricketer. She made seven Test appearances for South Africa between 1960 and 1972, with her 256 runs making her the leading Test run-scorer for her country.
Cricket career
Gove made her debut for South Africa in their maiden Test match. Facing the touring England at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, Gove batted at number eight in the first innings and number nine in the second, scoring 4 and 40 runs respectively. Her bowling was also used in the match, and she claimed two wickets in the second innings, dismissing Katherine Smith caught and bowled, and trapping Ruth Westbrook leg before wicket. She scored 13 runs in the second match of the series, and did not take a wicket. She took wickets in both of the final two matches, collecting three at Durban and four in Cape Town, and though she did not surpass her innings of 40 runs from the first match, she did accumulate 90 runs across the two games. At the end of the series, she was South Africa’s joint-leading wicket-taker, with nine wickets, though Lorna Ward had a superior average, taking her nine at 25.33, in contrast to Gove’s 30.55.
Over eleven years later, Gove participated in South Africa’s next officially sanctioned women’s Test series, played against New Zealand. In the first Test, Gove scored 13 runs in the first innings, and 36 not out in the second, but in the following match, she failed to reach double figures in either innings. In the third and final Test of the series, after a first innings score of 3, Gove remained unbeaten on 51 when South Africa declared their second innings closed. It was the final match of Gove’s international career, and the score of 51* remained her highest total in Test cricket. Her seven women’s Test appearances for South Africa is the most for the country, level with Ward. Although Gove’s total of 256 runs in women’s Test cricket is the highest by a South African, her career average of 25.60 is ranked just fifteenth amongst her compatriots.