For Laura Wright, singing national anthems at major sporting events has become a profession of its own. But her latest performance at Headingley on Wednesday required considerably more preparation than usual. The English mezzo-soprano took on Pakistan’s Qaumi Taranah in Urdu before the opening Test of Pakistan’s series against England. This was not Wright’s first experience singing an anthem in a language unfamiliar to her. In 2025, she performed India’s Jana Gana Mana before each of the men’s Tests against England. She also sang it ahead of the women’s Test at Lord’s last month. For Wright, however, neither assignment is something she agrees to casually. She said she considers the responsibility carefully and only accepts when she knows she has enough time to prepare properly. “It’s such an honour to be asked to sing any anthem, and I’d never take it for granted,” she told The Athletic. “The Indian and Pakistan ones are real challenges, and when I’m asked, I really do think about it before I say yes because I have to be sure I can get it right.” That preparation for Pakistan’s anthem began well before she arrived at Headingley. “I’ve been working on Urdu for the last six months. This is not someone saying: ‘Can you come in and sing Jerusalem’. It’s much bigger than that, but this will be a huge privilege for me, and I just hope to do it justice,” she said. According to Wright, she focuses not just on getting the pronunciation right but also on understanding the words and their phrasing. She went through a similar process when she first took on India’s national anthem. “Singing the Indian anthem for the first time was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been. When you study classical music you’re given a basic understanding of Italian and German, but when you do anthems you come across so many different languages,” she added. “I spent so long listening to the Indian anthem and time with two or three people speaking it so I could listen to the pronunciation, the phrasing and understand what the words meant. That’s part of this career that people don’t see.” The sports connection Wright’s connection with sport goes back much further than her work as a singer. As a teenager, she played hockey, netball, tennis and rugby and also competed in javelin at county level. After training at the Royal College of Music, she found a way to bring her two biggest interests together. Her first sporting performance came when she was just 16, after she was invited to sing at Ipswich Football Club during a memorial match for the late Sir Bobby Robson. Now 36, Wright has gone on to perform at sporting events around the world. Her profile in cricket grew after she wrote Heroes for the England women’s team ahead of the 2017 World Cup, further combining her musical career with her long-standing love of sport.
