Kira Chathli embodies a new subset of English cricketers: uncapped at international level, but making a healthy living from domestic women’s cricket regardless. It is a category of player that simply did not exist a decade ago, when the country’s only full-time professionals were those with central contracts, but the women’s game has changed beyond recognition since.
This summer, Chathli will earn a comfortable six-figure salary across her contracts with Surrey and MI London. “The girls used to give their all to cricket, probably train a similar amount to us, and then not get the financial reward for that – so have to work at the same time,” she says. “We are very fortunate at this point… I like being able to go out with my friends and be able to pay for lunch or coffee and not have to worry about it.”
Chathli, 26, has been part of the Surrey pathway since she was nine years old, and has watched the profile of the women’s game grow exponentially. “I was in a really fortunate position: I didn’t think too much about what I wanted to do because I was offered a contract at the perfect time for me, where I could finish my degree but didn’t have to start job-hunting yet,” she says.
She studied chemistry at University College London, and her contemporaries offer a glimpse of how she might have spent her 20s had she played in a different era: “Some of them have done PhDs but a lot of people have gone into city jobs and banking, which probably would have been more likely; I wasn’t very good at the research side. And weirdly, a disproportionate amount of chefs have studied chemistry.”
This summer provides Chathli with a simple recipe: combine a prolific season with the bat with some neat glovework, and she will put herself in the mix for future England selection. She was part of a training camp in Oman in January – though broke a finger, ruling her out for the rest of the winter – and is among a group of young keepers pushing for opportunities behind Amy Jones.
Seren Smale, Rhianna Southby, Ellie Threlkeld and Bess Heath have all been involved in squads and training camps. “They want that drive to take the spot off that player,” Chathli says, relaying the message she picked up from her time working with England coaches. “They want people to be good enough, not just [get picked] because that player’s retired, then someone else does it.”
At last month’s Hundred auction, Chathli outdid them all: she was bought for £80,000 by MI London after a three-way bidding war, the highest fee for any English wicketkeeper in the tournament. The payday reflects how quickly her stocks have risen: she only played for London Spirit last summer as an injury replacement, but finished the tournament as their leading run-scorer while striking at 150.
Moving back across the Thames will mean that Chathli can call The Oval home throughout the summer. There is also a neat family tie: her father Harry, a media strategist who briefly served as Yorkshire’s chair in 2023-24, grew up in the suburbs of Mumbai and is a Mumbai Indians fan. “He was super excited,” Chathli says. “Obviously cricket is massive in India, and to make that translate here through Indian investment is a really cool thing.”
Chathli’s Hundred team-mates will include a handful of Mumbai Indians players in Nicola Carey, Amelia Kerr and Hayley Matthews. As the multi-club franchise model enters women’s cricket for the first time, it is not unfathomable that another strong Hundred season could earn Chathli a spot as a back-up overseas player at the WPL.
But her immediate focus is on Surrey, with Saturday’s Metro Bank Cup opener at Warwickshire her first match since taking over from Bryony Smith as 50-over captain. She was offered the role by head coach Johann Myburgh over the winter, and decided after some reflection that she felt ready to step into a senior leadership role after previous experience as vice-captain.
She will rarely have a full-strength side to call upon due to clashes with a busy international summer, and may miss some games herself if selected for England A. But she has pledged to be a “funky” captain who is open to experimentation, and is confident that she will be a match-winner so long as she stays fit.
“I’m really big on empowering the bowlers to make more decisions themselves, and I’ll be there to support them. I’ve said very honestly: I’m not a bowler, so if you think something, I’m going to back you all the way… I’m very keen on making mistakes, and letting the bowlers figure it out [for themselves].
“I’m not necessarily in control of injury but I always put in my appraisals that if I can stay on the park, I know with my attitude and the way I work, I’m going to do something special – whether that’s a catch, scoring the winning runs, or changing a game. If I can stay on the park for the majority of the season, I’m going to give myself the best chance of doing that.”
