| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kelly Shannon Castle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 September 1997 Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–present | Essex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2024 | Sunrisers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,19 October 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kelly Shannon Castle (born 4 September 1997) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Essex. She plays as an all-rounder,bowling right-arm medium and batting right-handed. [1] [2]
Castle was born on 4 September 1997 in Southend-on-Sea,Essex. [2] She attended King Edmund School in Rochford and Anglia Ruskin University. [3] [4]
Castle made her county debut in 2011,for Essex against Middlesex. She scored a duck and did not bowl. [5] This was the only game she played in 2011,and played one more in 2012 before becoming more of a regular in the side from 2013 onwards. In 2015 she took her maiden county five-wicket haul,5/18 against Scotland,and overall took 10 wickets at 14.80 in the County Championship. [6] [7] She was also her side's leading wicket-taker in the 2015 Women's Twenty20 Cup,taking 13 wickets at an average of 8.61. [8] In 2017,Castle hit her List A high score of 47,opening the batting in a victory over the Netherlands. [9] She was named as Essex's Twenty20 captain in 2018,and became captain in both formats in 2019. [10] [11] In the 2019 Women's Twenty20 Cup,Castle was her side's leading wicket-taker,with 7 wickets at an average of 12.42,and hit her Twenty20 high score of 48,in a win against Devon. [12] [13] She played six matches in the 2021 Women's Twenty20 Cup,scoring 42 runs and taking three wickets. [14] [15] In the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup,she scored her first two half-centuries,including 75 against Suffolk,scoring 167 runs overall as well as taking four wickets. [16] [17] [18]
In 2020,Castle played for Sunrisers in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. She appeared in all 6 matches,scoring 85 runs at an average of 17.00 and taking one wicket. [19] [20] In December 2020,it was announced that Castle was one of the 41 female cricketers that had signed a full-time domestic contract. [21] Castle was ever-present for the side in the 2021 season,and was the side's leading wicket-taker in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy,with 10 wickets at an average of 21.10. [22] [23] She also scored her maiden List A half-century in the tournament,52 against Lightning. [24] She also captained the side in the Charlotte Edwards Cup. [25]
Ahead of the 2022 season,Castle became the Sunrisers captain in all formats. [26] She played eleven matches for the side that season,across the Charlotte Edwards Cup and the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy,and was the side's joint-leading wicket-taker in the Charlotte Edwards Cup,with 7 wickets at an average of 16.85. [27] [28] In 2023,she played 18 matches for Sunrisers,across the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the Charlotte Edwards Cup,taking 15 wickets. [29] [30] She stepped down as captain of the side in June 2023. [31]
In October 2024,she signed a professional contract for Essex Women ahead of the 2025 women's domestic cricket restructure. [32] [33]
Castle was part of the England Development Programme at Under-15 level. [34]