Natasha Eleni Farrant (born 29 May 1996) is an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er who currently plays for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

South East Stars South East Stars are a women's cricket team that represent the London & South East region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds, including the County Cricket Ground, Be ...

Oval Invincibles Oval Invincibles is a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in South London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. She plays as a left-arm

fast-medium Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

bowler. She has previously played for

Southern Vipers The Southern Vipers are a women's cricket team that represent the South of England. The Vipers wear an orange and black kit and play their home matches at the Ageas Bowl and the County Cricket Ground, Hove. They are currently coached by form ...

in the

Women's Cricket Super League The Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL), known as the Kia Super League (KSL) for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional women's Twenty20 cricket competition in England and Wales operated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The com ...

, as well as spending a season with

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

Early life

Farrant was born in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

, Greece. She started playing for a Kent Women junior team at the age of eight. She attended

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a highly selective coeducational independent school in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. It is the second oldest non-denominational school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432, only behind Oswestry (1407). Over 1,000 day pupil ...

, and at the age of 11, she joined the boys' school team.

Domestic career

Farrant made her Kent senior team debut in 2012, and took 5/9 in the match. She was part of the Kent side that won the

2016 Women's County Championship The 2016 Women's County One-Day Championship was the 20th cricket Women's County Championship season. The Championship was won by Kent who recorded their seventh championship, setting a new record for the number of championships won. The runner ...

after winning seven of their eight matches. In that season's match between Kent Women and Staffordshire Women, Farrant took six wickets for 16 runs. In 2016, Farrant signed for

ahead of the inaugural

. During the

2018 Women's Cricket Super League The 2018 Women's Cricket Super League, or 2018 Kia Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the third season of the Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL), the semi-professional women's cricket competition in England and Wales. The competition, ru ...

, Farrant took a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

for Southern Vipers against

Lancashire Thunder Lancashire Thunder were an English women's Twenty20 cricket team based in Manchester, Lancashire that competed in England’s women's Twenty20 competition, the Women's Cricket Super League. Thunder played their home matches at Old Trafford and var ...

. Thunder won the match nevertheless. She took 12 wickets in the group stage of the

2019 Women's Cricket Super League The 2019 Women's Cricket Super League, or 2019 Kia Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the fourth and final season of the Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL), the semi-professional women's cricket competition in England and Wales. The comp ...

, more than any other player, and 14 wickets in the whole tournament. In the final, Farrant took 2/19, the best figures by a Vipers bowler, as they lost to

Western Storm Western Storm are a women's cricket team representing South West England and Wales, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic cricket. They play their home matches at the County Ground, Taunton, the County Ground, Bristol and Sophia Ga ...

. Since 2019, Farrant has worked with

Trent College Trent College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in Long Eaton, Derbyshire between Nottingham and Derby, Derbyshire, Derby. Founded in 1868 as a local ’middle class alternative’ to the more famous Public school ( ...

coach Scott Boswell, and she has worked as the head of girls' cricket at Trent College. Farrant was given a regional retainer contract for the 2020 season. She captained the

in that season's

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy is an English women's cricket domestic competition, named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, who died in 2017. The first edition of the tournament took place during August a ...

. Farrant chose to represent the South East regional hub after she rejected an offer from the East Midlands hub. In December 2020, Farrant was one of 41 women's cricketers given a full-time domestic cricket contract. In 2021, she was signed by the

for

The Hundred The 100 may refer to: Arts and entertainment * 100 (DC Comics), fictional organized crime groups appearing in DC Comics * ''The 100'' (novel series), a 2013–2016 science fiction novel series written by Kass Morgan * ''The 100'' (TV series), 20 ...

and won the title with them. Farrant was again signed by the

for the 2022 season of

, and played one match for South East Stars in the

2022 Charlotte Edwards Cup The 2022 Charlotte Edwards Cup was the second edition of the Charlotte Edwards Cup, an English women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition, which took place between 14 May and 11 June 2022. It featured eight teams playing in two double round ...

, but missed the rest of the 2022 season due to a back injury.

International career

Farrant has played for the England under-19s. In 2013, at the age of 17, she received her first call up for the

England women's cricket team The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Associati ...

, for a series against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Regular bowlers

Katherine Brunt Katherine Helen Brunt (born 2 July 1985) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Yorkshire, Northern Diamonds, Trent Rockets and England. She plays as a right-arm fast bowler and right-handed lower-order batter. She has won two World ...

and

Laura Marsh Laura Alexandra Marsh (born 5 December 1986) is an English former cricketer. Born in Pembury, Kent, she began playing cricket at 11 and started her career as a medium pace bowler but found greater success when she switched to off spin. She playe ...

were injured, which allowed Farrant to be called up. Farrant made her

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 first Twenty ...

(WT20I) debut in the series. She took two wickets in her second over, and finished with figures of 2/15. Later in the year, Farrant played one

Women's One Day International Women's One Day International (WODI) 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) against the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

. She was the youngest member of the England squad that won the 2013–14 Ashes in Australia. In April 2014, she was one of 18 players awarded the first set of

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...

central contracts for women players. She was the youngest recipient of a central contract. In April 2015, she was named in the England women's Academy squad tour to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

, where England women played their Australian counterparts in two 50-over games, and two Twenty20 matches. Between 2014 and 2016, Farrant did not play any international matches, but she returned to the England squad in 2016 replacing the injured Katherine Brunt. Farrant was named in the England squad for the

2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the fifth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, the world championship of women's Twenty20 International cricket. India hosted the event for the first time, with matches played from 15 March to 3 A ...

, the first time that she has been selected for an ICC event. She did not play any matches, but kept her squad place for the Pakistan ODI series. In October 2018, she was named in England's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West In ...

tournament in the West Indies. She did not make an appearance in the tournament. Between 2013 and 2018, Farrant made 15 appearances for England. In 2019, Farrant's ECB central contract was terminated. In January 2021, Farrant was recalled to the England team for their series against New Zealand, as

Anya Shrubsole Anya Shrubsole (born 7 December 1991) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Berkshire, Southern Vipers and the Southern Brave. She played for England between 2008 and 2022, and has previously played domestic cricket for Somerset, Weste ...

and Katie George were injured. She played in a warm up game, taking 1/17 in her first appearance in an England shirt since 2018. She played in the first match of the series, her first WODI appearance in eight years. She took two wickets in the match. In June 2021, Farrant was named as in England's

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

squad for their one-off match against India. In November 2021, Farrant regained her central contract with England. The following month, Farrant was named in England's squad for their tour to Australia to contest the

Women's Ashes The Women's Ashes is the perpetual trophy in women's international cricket series between England and Australia. The name derives from the historic precedent of the Ashes in male cricket and, until 2013, was similarly decided exclusively on the ...

. In February 2022, she was named in England's team for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrant, Natasha 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Athens England women One Day International cricketers England women Twenty20 International cricketers Kent women cricketers Southern Vipers cricketers South East Stars cricketers Western Australia women cricketers Oval Invincibles cricketers