Date of birth: 9th February 1996 (Birmingham, West Midlands)
The Blaze List A debut: 22nd April 2023 (Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy v Central Sparks | Trent Bridge, Nottingham)
The Blaze T20 debut: 20th May 2023 (Charlotte Edwards Cup v South East Stars | County Ground, Beckenham)
Batting: Right-handed
Batter Marie Kelly balances being The Blaze’s vice-captain with her entrepreneurial role at the helm of a growing business.
She has played over 90 games for The Blaze in five years with the team, and stepped in as captain on occasions over the treble-winning season when Kirstie Gordon was unavailable.
At the same time, she has established Versatail, her own start-up that manufactures headwear specific to women and girls.
Born in Birmingham, she began her cricket career with Warwickshire aged 15, before first moving to the East Midlands to study sports science at Loughborough University in 2014.
After graduating in 2017, she played in the Kia Super League for Loughborough Lightning and Southern Vipers, before debuting for Central Sparks in the inaugural year of the regional era.
She swapped West for East Midlands once more in 2022 when she joined then-named Lightning, and has remained with the side through their transition to being called The Blaze.
She counts experience with Trinbago Knight Riders in the 2023 Caribbean Premier League, as well as appearances in every season of The Hundred across three different teams, on her CV.
In 2026, alongside filling in as skipper for T20 World Cup-bound Gordon, Kelly totalled almost 700 runs as she helped The Blaze to a historic treble.