Freya Kemp who’s missed having the spotlight on her hasn’t failed in beaming light of her own with sounding performances and in England’s 2nd T20I in their ongoing series against India, she did just that, yet again. With England in deep trouble, 17-year-old, Kemp bailed her side out of trouble with an unbeaten 51 off 37 which got England back on track in posting a respectful total that eventually India got to and did so quite comfortably to level the series 1-1 and stay alive in the series.
England batting first had a poor start and when Amy Jones departed, out walked Freya Kemp with England having lost half its side for 54. Freya Kemp got her innings underway with a boundary and off the very next ball ran a couple in clearing intentions of having a proactive approach in an attempt to counterattack India. A set and strong-going Maia Bouchier too played her shots and didn’t let any sort of pressure build on her partner alone. Freya Kemp brilliantly struck a couple of maximums and followed one with a boundary which got her score to 24*(11).
At 17y 145d, Freya Kemp becomes the 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝟐𝟎𝐈𝐬#ENGvIND #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/348S1v9WfA
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 13, 2022
India after having lost the plot, soon bounced back and dried up the boundaries which forced the pair to look for runs and the pressure got India the wicket of Maia Bouchier which pushed Freya Kemp into a shell. But she hung in, sucked the pressure with 1’s and 2’s and just in time, in the final over of the innings, struck a maximum and followed it with a boundary which got her to celebrate her maiden T20I half-century on the score of 51*(36) and in the process she overtook Alice Capsey and now is second to none on the ‘Youngest English batter to score a T20I half-century’ list.
Freya Kemp has had a remarkable journey to and on big stages be it international cricket.
Who is Freya Kemp?
The 2005 April born, Freya Kemp is a left-handed all-rounder who made her county debut in 2019, aged 14 for Sussex against Nottinghamshire in the Women’s Twenty20 Cup in which she took 1/12 from her 2 overs and featured for 4 games during the tournament. She then was named in the Southern Vipers squad for the 2020 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy but did not play a match for the side that season and then was moved to the side’s Academy squad for the 2021 season.
Kemp made her debut for Southern Vipers on 14 May 2022, against North West Thunder in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and registered figures of 2/13 from her 4 overs. She also played in the 2022 edition of the Women’s Twenty20 Cup, this time around she scored 131 runs and bagged 4 wickets in 6 appearances. In the group semi-final, she got to her maiden Twenty20 half-century against Surrey having scored 53* off 27 balls. Then came her international debut (more on it below) and after having ran the drinks in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, this time around she featured and left a mark during the competition.
Freya Kemp’s international journey started on the 25th of July 2022, during England’s home series against South Africa and straightaway created an impact by getting breakthroughs and on debut got to figures of 2/18 from her 3 overs. Then came the Commonwealth Games where she went on to finish as England’s leading wicket-taker at the Commonwealth Games having struck 6 wickets in 5 games.
Freya Kemp so far has had 8 international outings with the ball in hand and has picked up 8 wickets at an average of 18.12, a strike rate of 15.0 at an economy of 7.25 and has got to best figures of 2/14. With bat in hand, in 2 innings she’s got to 52 runs and 51 of those had her in her most recent outing against India. Now that she’s starting to settle on the international stage, there’s no doubt in the fact that she’s in a big race and looking to cement her feet harder in the English team is certainly pressing forward to be the no.1 ranked all-rounder.