Arlene Nora Kelly (born 8 January 1994) is an Irish

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays for

Dragons A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. She has previously played for

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. She made her international debut for Ireland in June 2022.

Career

Kelly was born in

, New Zealand, in 1994. Her father was also born in New Zealand, but both of his parents were born in Ireland, and her mother was also born in Ireland, with Kelly holding an

Irish passport An Irish passport () is the passport issued to Irish nationality law, citizens of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. An Irish passport enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as evidence of Irish nationality and citizenship of the Eu ...

. Kelly played for the

Auckland Hearts The Auckland Hearts is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand region of Auckland. They play their home games at Eden Park Outer Oval. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the Women's S ...

in domestic tournaments in New Zealand between 2012–13 and 2022–23. In December 2018, she earned her 50th cap for the club. In March 2020, in the final of the 2019–20 Hallyburton Johnstone Shield, Kelly scored a match-winning 110 runs, as the Auckland Hearts beat the Northern Spirit by 67 runs to win the competition. She also played for

in 2018 as an overseas player. Ahead of the women's 2022 domestic cricket season in Ireland, Kelly was signed by

to play in the

2022 Arachas Super 20 Trophy The 2022 Arachas Super 20 Trophy was the Twenty20 section of the eighth Women's Super Series competition, that took place in Ireland. The tournament took place in June and July 2022, alongside the 50 over Arachas Super 50 Cup. Three teams comp ...

and the 2022 Arachas Super 50 Cup. In May 2022, Kelly was named in Ireland's

Women's One Day International Women's One Day International (ODI) is the limited overs form of women's cricket. Matches are scheduled for 50 overs, equivalent to the men's game. The first women's ODIs were played in 1973, as part of the first Women's World Cup which was ...

(WODI) and

Women's Twenty20 International Women's Twenty20 international (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 international is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The very firs ...

(WT20I) squads for their series against South Africa. Nine of Ireland's regular players were unavailable for selection, with Kelly saying "it was a welcome surprise" to get the call-up from Ireland's head coach

Ed Joyce Edmund Christopher Joyce (born 22 September 1978) is an Irish cricket coach and former cricketer who played for both the Ireland and England national cricket teams. After beginning his career with Middlesex, he moved to Sussex in 2009, before re ...

. After initially only being in Ireland to play for the Dragons, Kelly was in the right place at the right time to get a call up to Ireland's national team. With regards to overseas players being selected, Ed Joyce said that cricketers like Kelly would "raise the standard" in the team. Kelly made her WT20I debut on 3 June 2022, for Ireland against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In the match, Kelly took two wickets, including that of

Suné Luus Suné Elbie Luus ( , ; born 5 January 1996) is a South African professional cricketer, who plays for the national cricket team as a spin bowling all-rounder. Early life and education Luus was born and raised in Pretoria. Even when she was a t ...

, the South African captain. Ireland went on to win the match by ten runs, recording only their second win in the format against South Africa, with the first win coming in August 2016. Kelly made her WODI debut on 11 June 2022, also in the series against South Africa. She was named in the Ireland squad for their T20I and ODI tour to Bangladesh in November 2024. Kelly was part of the Ireland squad for the

2025 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in Pakistan in April 2025. The tournament served as the final stage of the qualification process for the 2025 Women's Cricket World ...

in Pakistan in April 2025.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Arlene 1994 births Living people Cricketers from Auckland Irish women cricketers Ireland women One Day International cricketers Ireland women Twenty20 International cricketers Auckland Hearts cricketers Kent women cricketers Dragons (women's cricket) cricketers New Zealand women cricketers New Zealand people of Irish descent Irish people of New Zealand descent New Zealand expatriate cricketers in England Irish expatriate cricketers in England 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen