Kent Women sign Australian all-rounder Kara Sutherland
Sunday 26th April 2015
Kent Women have signed Australian all-rounder Kara Sutherland for the 2015 season.
The New South Wales left-armer bowls fast-medium and will bolster the county champions' middle order.
With the side's England stars likely to be absent for several matches this season during the Women's Ashes series, the 23-year-old will hope to help Kent claim a record seventh county crown.
Sutho, as her teammates call her, trained with the Women's squad at the newly renovated County Ground, Beckenham last weekend and is looking forward to her first taste of county cricket there on Sunday (May 3) against Yorkshire.
The new signing said: “I can’t wait for the new season to start. It promises to be an exciting summer with the Ashes taking place in England and I’m hoping the increased coverage of the women’s series will be a boost to the game.
“With our international players missing later in the season, we’ll need to be at our best to retain the Royal London Championship and win the NatWest Women's Twenty20.
“It’ll be great to play our home games at Kent’s first-class grounds at Canterbury and Beckenham and I hope Kent Members and Supporters can come along and support us.”
Sutherland will join a largely homegrown squad including six Kent Cricket Academy graduates: Tammy Beaumont, Deanna Cooper, Alice Davidson-Richards, Tash Farrant, Grace Gibbs and vice-captain Lydia Greenway.
There will be two further new additions in 2015 with teenage newcomers Lottie Bryan and Emily Thompson joining the senior squad for the first time.
In 2014, Charlotte Edwards led the side to victory in the Royal London 50-over competition and third in the NatWest Women's T20.
The side will wear the Royal London One-Day kit with the logo of Major Sponsor of Kent Women's Cricket, Canterbury Christ Church University.
Entry to see Kent Women take on Yorkshire and Sussex at Beckenham is free for Kent Members and Canterbury Christ Church University students. Non-members over 16s pay £5 and under 16s enter free.
Following the opening Beckenham double-header this weekend, the next fixtures will be two home games at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on Sunday 24 and Bank Holiday Monday 25 May versus Lancashire and Nottinghamshire.
Kent will host the only Kia Test at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on August 11-14, 2015, the only Test of the 2015 Women's Ashes series.Click here to order tickets