Amelia Kerr, the all-rounder of the New Zealand women’s cricket team, was born on October 13, 2000, in the city of Wellington. After coming up through the age groups in the New Zealand cricketing scene, Amelia Kerr made her international debut at the young age of 16 years old in an ODI against Pakistan before playing her first T20I versus the same opposition just a couple of weeks down the road. Kerr has seen quite a lot in young career since then, achieving great success in white-ball cricket before taking a break from the sport to focus on her mental health.
The first major breakthrough in the international career of Amelia Kerr came in 2018, when she became the second batter in the women’s ODI cricket history to score a double hundred. Her unbeaten 232 off 145 against Ireland in Dublin, which included 31 fours and two sixes, is currently the highest individual score in the history of women’s ODI cricket. While setting up the third highest ODI total in women’s cricket, Amelia Kerr also shared a partnership of 295 runs with Leigh Kasperek, which is the highest for the second wicket in the history of the game.
In the same match, she also became the fifth youngest cricketer to pick up a five-wicket haul in women’s ODI cricket, to help New Zealand demolish Ireland by 305 runs in their pursuit of the 441-run target.
Amelia Kerr captained White Ferns in ODIs during home series against England in 2024
Amelia Kerr is the joint-first in taking most catches in an innings in women’s ODI cricket when she grabbed hold of four catches against India in Queenstown in 2022. One of the most proudest moments of Kerr’s international career came in March 2024, when she was named as the new captain of the White Ferns for the three-match ODI series against England at home, which they lost 1-2 despite demolishing the visitors in the final game of the series.
Although the on-field exploits of Amelia Kerr have been the highlight of her career, there is no discounting her battle against anxiety and depression during the year 2021 and before. She spoke about it in great detail in the last couple of years, with one of her statements on the matter read, “I've always thought when I was about 12 years old was the best year of my life. And then, when I look back on my teenage years, I actually struggled quite a lot, internally. And then obviously, it got really bad when I was 20, 21.”
Currently, Amelia Kerr is playing for New Zealand in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the UAE, aiming to take her team through to the knockout stage of the tournament from Group A comprising India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Australia.
