Kelly Shannon Castle (born 4 September 1997) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Essex. She plays as an all-rounder, bowling right-arm medium and batting right-handed.[1][2]
Castle made her county debut in 2011, for Essex against Middlesex. She scored a duck and did not bowl.[5] This was the only game she played in 2011, and played one more in 2012 before becoming more of a regular in the side from 2013 onwards. In 2015 she took her maiden county five-wicket haul, 5/18 against Scotland, and overall took 10 wickets at 14.80 in the County Championship.[6][7] She was also her side's leading wicket-taker in the 2015 Women's Twenty20 Cup, taking 13 wickets at an average of 8.61.[8] In 2017, Castle hit her List A high score of 47, opening the batting in a victory over the Netherlands.[9] She was named as Essex's Twenty20 captain in 2018, and became captain in both formats in 2019.[10][11] In the 2019 Women's Twenty20 Cup, Castle was her side's leading wicket-taker, with 7 wickets at an average of 12.42, and hit her Twenty20 high score of 48, in a win against Devon.[12][13] She played six matches in the 2021 Women's Twenty20 Cup, scoring 42 runs and taking three wickets.[14][15] In the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup, she scored her first two half-centuries, including 75 against Suffolk, scoring 167 runs overall as well as taking four wickets.[16][17][18]
In 2020, Castle played for Sunrisers in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. She appeared in all 6 matches, scoring 85 runs at an average of 17.00 and taking one wicket.[19][20] In December 2020, it was announced that Castle was one of the 41 female cricketers that had signed a full-time domestic contract.[21] Castle was ever-present for the side in the 2021 season, and was the side's leading wicket-taker in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 10 wickets at an average of 21.10.[22][23] She also scored her maiden List A half-century in the tournament, 52 against Lightning.[24] She also captained the side in the Charlotte Edwards Cup.[25]
Ahead of the 2022 season, Castle became the Sunrisers captain in all formats.[26] She played eleven matches for the side that season, across the Charlotte Edwards Cup and the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, and was the side's joint-leading wicket-taker in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, with 7 wickets at an average of 16.85.[27][28] In 2023, she played 18 matches for Sunrisers, across the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the Charlotte Edwards Cup, taking 15 wickets.[29][30] She stepped down as captain of the side in June 2023.[31]
In October 2024, she signed a professional contract for Essex Women ahead of the 2025 women's domestic cricket restructure.[32][33]
Castle was part of the England Development Programme at Under-15 level.[34]
