Following the announcement of five professionally contracted players in 2020/21, the ECB today announced that each of the Women’s Elite Regional Teams will have an additional sixth professional contract awarded for the 2021/22 season.
Sunrisers have renewed the contracts of Amara Carr, Kelly Castle, Naomi Dattani, Jo Gardner, and Cordelia Griffith, who all earned professional contracts last year, whilst the sixth contract for 2021/22 is awarded to 17-year-old off-spinning all-rounder Grace Scrivens.
Castle is a product of the Essex Academy and picked up the Bowler of the Year Award at the Sunsrisers’ End of Season Players Awards at Lord’s earlier this month.
Speaking on her renewal, Castle said: “I’m very excited and grateful to gain a retainer contract with Sunrisers. My first year being a professional was an incredible experience and I’m looking to build upon the hard work from last year into this coming winter.
“It’s an exciting time for the Essex women’s set up, with our new Head Coach, Paul Davidge, looking to build on the great work done before him and take us to the next level. We have a really strong group of girls coming through and everyone is working to push the team to their full potential.
“I am looking to push on with both the ball and bat next season and help both Essex and Sunrisers to a successful season. Looking further, it would be amazing to break into a Hundred side as it was a great competition for the women’s game last year.”
Speaking of the announcement of the six contracted players for the coming twelve-month period, Regional Head of Women’s Cricket for Sunrisers, Danni Warren, commented: “One of the highlights of the last year has been seeing how these professional players have benefitted from the opportunity to focus all of their efforts on being a cricketer. To have witnessed how the inaugural five have grown both on and off the field has been a pleasure – their hard work has underlined the potential we know they have and has deservedly earned them contract renewals.
In addition, we are delighted to have been able to offer Grace her first contract – she has developed into a crucial member of our side, and someone we want to grow Sunrisers around for many years to come.
Having finished the 2021 season with a number of positives everyone at Sunrisers cannot wait to start building towards what we hope will be a successful year in 2022.“
