Olivia Niamh Bell (born 12 November 2003) is an English-born Scottish

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

North West Thunder North West Thunder, commonly referred to as Thunder, are a women's cricket team that represent Lancashire and North West England, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds, i ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. She plays primarily as a 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.

Early life

Bell was born on 12 November 2003 in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

Domestic career

Bell played age-group cricket for

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

between 2017 and 2022. In 2023, she appeared for

Scotland A The Scotland A team are the second national rugby union team behind the Scottish national side. The first Scotland 'A' fixture took place in 1990. History Unlike association football, where the main team is supposed to be the "A" team, Scotla ...

in the Twenty20 Cup, taking three wickets in her four matches, including 2/15 from her four overs against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. In 2022, she was named in the

Academy for the first time. She was again named in the Academy squad in 2023. She was first named in a matchday squad for the senior team on 20 May 2023. She made her debut for the side on 31 May 2023, 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

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 ...

. She went on to be the side's leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with 11 wickets at an average of 8.27, despite only playing four matches. She was also the side's leading wicket-taker 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 ...

, with 14 wickets at an average of 9.28, again despite playing only four matches.

International career

In August 2022, Bell played for Scotland Under-19s in the Europe Qualifier for the

2023 ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup The 2023 ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup was the first edition of the ICC Women's Under-19 Cricket World Cup, hosted by South Africa in 2023. The tournament was moved from its original slot at the end of 2021 to January 2023 because of the COV ...

against the Netherlands. In the first match of the series, she took 3/10 from her four overs. In August 2022, Bell was named in the

squad for their series against Ireland, but did not play a match. In September 2022, Bell was named in the Scotland squad for the

2022 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2022 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier is an international women's cricket tournament that is scheduled to be held in 2022. It will be the fifth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier and will serve as the qualification tournament ...

. She made her

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

debut in the 5th Place Play-off during the tournament, against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

on 23 September 2023. She opened the bowling, and took 1/16 from her three overs. In December 2022, Bell was selected in the Scotland Under-19 squad for the

. She played all four matches for the side at the tournament, taking one wicket. She made her

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

debut on 17 October 2023, against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Olivia 2003 births Living people Cricketers from Stockport Scottish women cricketers Scotland women Twenty20 International cricketers North West Thunder cricketers