Mady Villiers

Mady Villiers is an English cricketer who has played internationally for England and domestically for Essex, Sunrisers, Oval Invincibles, Durham, and Manchester Super Giants. She began her cricket career playing for Essex in 2012 and cemented herself as a regular in the county team in 2015.

In July 2019, Mady made her first appearance in the England team against Australia in the Women’s Twenty20 International series. In 2021, she was once again part of the England team on their tour of New Zealand. Mady’s Test match debut came in 2026 when England played against India at Lord’s.

Why Mady Villiers is vegan

Mady Villiers is vegan for the animals.

Mady Villiers became vegan in 2019 when she was holed up in bed recovering from a stress fracture. She discovered an online lecture about veganism and was immediately convinced by the ethical arguments. The next day she was vegan and turning down a Sunday carvery.¹Chowdhury, A. 2022. Women’s Ashes: England spinner Mady Villiers on her vegan lifestyle. BBC. Available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/60072845 [Accessed 14 October 2026].

Even though animal welfare was her initial motivation for making the switch to a plant-based diet, Mady has noticed improvements in her recovery and performance since making the change:

“Becoming vegan hasn’t impacted my game at all in any way, shape or form. If anything, I feel better. I recover a lot quicker; I didn’t expect these benefits to happen. I’m not saying I recover quicker because I don’t eat meat, but because my vegetable intake is higher, I’m not as stiff anymore. On the whole, I feel a lot more refreshed when I wake up.”²Chowdhury, A. 2022. Women’s Ashes: England spinner Mady Villiers on her vegan lifestyle. BBC. Available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/60072845 [Accessed 14 October 2026].