Lauren Katie Bell (born 2 January 2001) is an English cricketer who plays for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

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 former ...

and

Southern Brave Southern Brave is a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Southampton. The team represents the historic counties of Hampshire and Sussex in the newly founded The Hundred competition, which took place for the first time during ...

. She has previously played for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

in the

Women's Twenty20 Cup The Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the Vitality Women's County T20, is a women's Twenty20 cricket competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Until the end of the 2019 season, teams were organised in tie ...

. Bell made her international debut 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 Association ...

in June 2022.

Personal life

Bell is nicknamed ''

The Shard The Shard, also referred to as the Shard of Glass, Shard London Bridge, and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 72-storey skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that forms part of The Shard Quarter dev ...

'' because of her height. Her sister Colette has played for

and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

Domestic career

Bell has played for

Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...

Cricket Club, and was the first girl to play for the

Bradfield College Bradfield College, formally St Andrew's College, Bradfield, is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils aged 11–18, located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire. It is note ...

1st XI. In 2015, at the age of 14, Bell made her

Women's County Championship The Women's County Championship, known since 2014 as the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup,Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. She made eight appearances in the 2015 season, taking seven wickets. In 2019, Berkshire loaned Bell to

for the

Twenty20 Cup The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (E ...

. In 2018, Bell made her debut for the

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 comp ...

. She played for the Vipers in 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 ...

final, where 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 Gardens ...

. In 2020, she was included in the Vipers squad for the

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 ...

. In December 2020, Bell was one of 41 women's cricketers given a full-time domestic cricket contract. Bell was signed for

for The Hundred; the 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and Bell was retained by the Brave for the 2021 season. In April 2022, she was bought by Southern Brave for the

2022 season of The Hundred The 2022 season of The Hundred will be the second season of The Hundred, a professional franchise 100-ball cricket tournament involving eight men's and women's teams located in major cities across England and Wales. The competition will return ...

International career

In 2019, Bell played for the England women's Academy against Australia A. She was given an academy contract for the 2019–20 season. In 2020, she was one of the 24 women chosen by England to begin training during the

. Bell was one of three uncapped players in the training squad; the others were

Emma Lamb Emma Louise Lamb (born 16 December 1997) is an English cricketer who plays for Lancashire Women, North West Thunder and Manchester Originals, and has previously played for Lancashire Thunder. Lamb is a batting all-rounder, and bowls off spi ...

and Issy Wong. In December 2021, Bell was named in England's A squad for their tour to Australia, with the matches being played alongside 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 January 2022, during the tour, she was added to the full England squad for the one-off Test match. In February 2022, she was named as one of two reserve players 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. In June 2022, Bell was named in England's

Women's Test Women's Test cricket is the longest format of women's cricket and is the female equivalent to men's Test cricket. Matches comprise four-innings and are held over a maximum of four days between two of the leading cricketing nations. The rules gov ...

squad for their one-off match against South Africa. She made her Test debut on 27 June 2022, for England against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. On 2 July 2022, Bell was also named in England's

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) squad for their matches against South Africa. She made her WODI debut on 15 July 2022, also for England against South Africa. In November 2022, Bell was awarded with her first England central contract.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Lauren 2001 births Living people England women Test cricketers England women One Day International cricketers England women Twenty20 International cricketers Sportspeople from Swindon Berkshire women cricketers Middlesex women cricketers Southern Vipers cricketers Southern Brave cricketers