Amelia Kerr’s journey into elite leg-spin began with a kid’s playful frustration in the nets. She recalls mucking around, trying to bowl spin but often hitting the roof, wondering why she bothered when medium pace seemed simpler for hitting the stumps. Those early days shaped a bowler whose wrong’uns would become a nightmare for batters worldwide.
As a young girl with small hands, Kerr found the ball too big for clean spin, leading to accidental wrong’uns that bounced back unexpectedly. “I’d bowl one and it would bounce back and hit someone and I had no idea which way the ball was going,” she shared in a candid WBBL chat.
That confusion turned into curiosity when she chatted with her coach, who helped exaggerate the action and refine it into a disguised weapon.
Youth brought its challenges with grip. “I got to a certain age where I think because you’re so young, ball is probably too big. My hands were so small that I accidentally started bowling wrong’uns,” she explained. Those deliveries spun back wildly: “So I’d bowl one and it would bounce back and hit someone and I had no idea which way the ball was going.” Pure chaos, but the spark of genius.
Kerr’s bowling numbers underline how far her wrong’un has taken her in both international cricket and franchise leagues. In ODIs, she has 106 wickets from 84 matches, at an average of 30.61, with an economy rate of 4.61 and best figures of 5 for 17. In WT20Is, she has 95 wickets from 88 matches, averaging 20.37 with an economy of 6.09 and best figures of 4 for 20.
Watch Video: Amelia Kerr bowling a Wrong’un to dismiss Ellyse Perry
Melie Kerr’s wrong’un strikes again! Follow LIVE and free in NZ on @TVNZ + & DUKE 📺 and @SportNationNZ 📻 Live scoring | https://t.co/ac4cTj5oGw #NZvAUS #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/RESgaiqVs8
— WHITE FERNS (@WHITE_FERNS) December 22, 2024
Her T20 league record is just as impressive. In the WBBL, across two teams, she has 81 wickets in 69 matches, an average of 20.43, economy 6.57 and best figures of 4 for 20. In The Women’s Hundred, also for two teams, she has 25 wickets in 20 matches, averaging 17.28 with an economy of 7.20 and best figures of 4 for 13. In the WPL for Mumbai Indians, she has 40 wickets in 29 matches, an average of 17.90, economy 7.64 and best figures of 5 for 38, underlining how her “accidental” wrong’un has become a bankable weapon across the world’s biggest stages.
From rooftop smashes to WBBL spotlights, Kerr’s wrong’uns now grip batters worldwide. Her story shows how kid stuff—small hands, wild bounces, coach chats—brews elite craft that thrives under lights. What started accidental has become her edge.
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