Michaela Louise Kirk (born 30 June 1999) is a South African

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 striki ...

er who currently plays for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

and The Blaze. She plays as a right-handed

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 ...

, right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler and occasional

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

. Having played for Northerns in South Africa between 2012/13 and 2019/20, in 2021 she moved to England to play cricket there, with ambitions to qualify for the national side.

Early life

Kirk was born on 30 June 1999 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. Her grandparents are from

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, which contributed to her family's decision to move back to England in 2021.

Domestic career

South Africa

Kirk made her debut for Northerns in 2012, against Easterns. In her second season with the side, 2013/14, she took 6 wickets at an average of 7.00 in the Provincial T20 Competition. In 2015/16, she was her side's second-leading run-scorer and second-leading wicket-taker, with 146 runs and 9 wickets (including a best bowling of 4/29). In the 2016/17 season, Kirk made her maiden half-century, scoring 52 * against Easterns. The following season she achieved her

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 ...

best bowling figures, taking 4 wickets for 0 runs in 1.3 overs against Easterns. In 2019/20 she was her side's leading run scorer in both the Provincial League and the Provincial T20, with 140 runs and 127 runs, respectively. She has also appeared in the

Women's T20 Super League The Women's T20 Super League is a women's domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament organised by Cricket South Africa. The tournament began in September 2019, with four teams taking part; these teams were renamed for a second competition in December 2 ...

for

Duchesses Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

England

In 2021, Kirk moved to England, moving in with her grandparents and aiming to qualify to play for the national side. For the 2021 season, she signed to play for

in 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 ...

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

in the regional competitions and

Trent Rockets Trent Rockets are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Nottingham. The team represents the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire in the newly founded The Hundred (cri ...

in The Hundred. For Nottinghamshire, she helped them win the East Midlands Group of the Twenty20 Cup and scored 122 runs at an average of 61.00, including hitting 61 * on debut against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. She made her debut for Lightning on 29 May, against

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 ...

in 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 ...

. She went on to play four matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, scoring one half-century, 57 made against Sunrisers. She also played three matches for the side in the

Charlotte Edwards Cup The Charlotte Edwards Cup, initially named the Women's Regional T20, is an English women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The first edition of the tournament took place in 2021. The tourna ...

, and three matches for Trent Rockets in The Hundred. During The Hundred in 2021, Kirk injured her

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

, meaning that she missed the rest of the season, and most of the following season. In 2022, therefore, she only appeared in two matches for Lightning, both in September in the

. In 2023, she played one match for Nottinghamshire 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 ...

, scoring 49. She played seven matches for The Blaze (the new name for Lightning) that season, with a top score of 40.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Michaela 1999 births Living people Cricketers from Johannesburg Northerns women cricketers Nottinghamshire women cricketers The Blaze women's cricketers Trent Rockets cricketers South African expatriate cricketers in England South African people of Scottish descent