Corey Kelly (born 14 December 2000) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

cricketer 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 striki ...

. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

against

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 th ...

on 2 March 2021 as part of the 2020–21 Marsh One-Day Cup.

Personal life

Corey Kelly was born on 14 December 2000 in the southern suburbs of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, to

Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly (born David Allan Kelly, 9 May 1950) is an English actor and presenter. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television presenter of ITV light entertainment shows such as ''Game for a L ...

, a member of the original

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

squad for the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

, and Tina. He is the identical twin brother of fellow cricketer Thomas Kelly, and was born two minutes earlier; they have a younger sister, Lucy. Kelly grew up in a sports-focused family influenced by his father's AFL career. The twins played over 100 games of

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

with Mitcham Hawks Football Club and

Norwood Football Club Norwood Football Club, nicknamed the Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club competing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in the state of South Australia. Its home ground is Coopers Stadium (Norwood Oval), which is ...

before shifting their focus to cricket, which the elder Kelly had also played. Kelly has lived for significant periods in the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

, the far northern region of Australia's

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

; he states an affinity for the region and its lifestyle, being an avid fan of fishing, camping, and outdoors pursuits. He is recognized in the cricket world for his distinctive mullet hairstyle, which was patterned off the dreadlocks of

Andrew Symonds Andrew Symonds (9 June 1975 – 14 May 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, who played all three formats as a batting all-rounder. Commonly nicknamed "Roy", he was a key member of two World Cup winning squads. Symonds played as a ri ...

and the mullets of

Aaron Naughton Aaron Naughton (born 30 November 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Standing at 195 cm, Naughton is considered a key-position player who is renowned for ...

and

Jason Gillespie Jason Neil Gillespie (born 19 April 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. A right-arm fast bowler, he was also a competent lower-order batsman whose unbeaten 201 in his last Test matc ...

. The twins state the hairstyle was grown in part to prevent them from being mistaken for one another.

Career

The Kelly brothers began playing cricket at the school level. Before the age of fifteen, Corey was predominantly a

batter Batter or batters may refer to: Common meanings * Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan * Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher * Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting * Batter ...

and Thomas predominantly a bowler; they switched roles after discovering each had a greater affinity for the opposite position. Corey Kelly was selected to appear on Australia's team for the

2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2020 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament that was held in South Africa from 17 January to 9 February 2020. It was the thirteenth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and the second to be ...

in South Africa, while his brother narrowly missed out on being placed on the team. Kelly became a member of the

Southern Districts Cricket Club The Southern Districts Cricket Club ("Stingrays") is a semi-professional cricket club in Adelaide, South Australia. It competes in the South Australian Grade Cricket League, which is administered by the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA). ...

, with which he played multiple games in Darwin. At the age of 20, the Kelly brothers were signed to the West End Redbacks, South Australia's professional

first class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

team. They became the first twins to play cricket together for South Australia. They played their debut game for the Redbacks in November 2021. Corey and Thomas Kelly are the first identical twins to play first class cricket on the same team in Australia since

Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

and

Alex Blackwell Alexandra Joy Blackwell (born 31 August 1983) is a former professional cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia as a specialist batter. In October 2017, she made her 250th international appearance for the Australian women's cricke ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Corey 2000 births Living people Australian cricketers South Australia cricketers Australian twins Cricketers from Adelaide