Naomi Dattani

Dattani was born in Ealing, Middlesex, on 28 April 1994.[1] She attended Greenford High School in Ealing,[2] and then studied Sports Science at Loughborough University.[3] She started playing cricket at the age of 10 with her brother at home, and then joined a local boy's team.[4] She progressed through age-group cricket with Middlesex, playing at Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 level.[5] She made her debut for the first team in May 2008, aged 14.[6] By 2015, from being a regular in the team, she found herself on the fringes. After completing university, she spent the English winter in Australia, where she played for the women's team at Prahran Cricket Club, which she credits with improving her game. She described her playing career up to 2015 as being "in the shadow",[3] but the improvements led to her being added to the Surrey Stars squad for the Women's Cricket Super League in 2016, and selection for the England Women's Academy.[3]

Dattani was named as Middlesex's captain in fifty-over cricket in 2017,[7] and remained part of the Surrey Stars squad.[8] She moved to the Western Storm for the 2018 Super League,[9] and played in every match for them that season.[10] She was ever-present again the following season as Western Storm won the Super League.[11] In early 2020, Dattani was signed by London Spirit for The Hundred,[12] though the tournament was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] In June 2020, she was one of 25 domestic female players awarded retainer contracts, which are planned to later become full-time professional contracts.[7] In July, she signed for the new regional team Sunrisers and played all six matches for them in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, scoring 125 runs at an average of 20.83.[14]