Sophia Dunkley Age, Boyfriend, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sophia Dunkley

• Sophia Dunkley is an English cricketer who plays for the national cricket team. She is the first black woman to play Test cricket for England. She played for Middlesex in county cricket till 2020 after which she joined Surrey. She was bought by the franchise team Gujarat Giants in 2023 for the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL).

• Dunkley is an only child and was raised in a single-parent family by her mother, Caroline.
  

  Childhood picture of Sophia Dunkley

• Growing up in London, she used to play football at the beginning and was introduced to cricket by her neighbour Zak Carr. In an interview, while talking about the same, she said,
  

  At primary school, football was probably the main sport I was into. Then I started playing cricket with my next-door neighbour Zak. We’d constantly be outside, playing either on the road or in the garden.”

• Soon, Dunkley started training at Finchley Cricket Club with Carr, where she began her cricketing journey in the club’s boys’ teams. She went through the club’s youth pathways before joining Middlesex’s team.

• For a long time, Dunkley was unaware of women’s cricket. She first discovered it when someone suggested she go for Middlesex girls’ under-11 trials. After entering the Middlesex County system in the Under 11 age group, she played through the age groups till Under 19.

• In 2009, she won a scholarship to Mill Hill School and joined its boys’ cricket first XI. She was the only girl in the school team for almost her entire time there.

• She made her county debut for Middlesex at the age of 14 during the 2012 Women’s Twenty20 Cup in a match against Sussex. In the match, she made two runs and bowled two overs for no wicket.

• With 451, she was the most runs scorer in the 2019 Women’s County Championship and won the Middlesex Women’s Sunshine Garden Centre Most Valuable Player Award for the season.
  

  Sophia Dunkley receiving cash prize after becoming Middlesex Women’s Sunshine Garden Centre Most Valuable Player Award of the 2019 season

• In 2020, she left Middlesex to play for Surrey.

• The 2018 Women’s Cricket Super League (WCSL) turned out to be her best season in which she took 6 wickets and scored 98 runs, including 66 runs against Southern Vipers. In the tournament final against Loughborough Lightning, she claimed a wicket and contributed to Surrey Stars winning the title.
  

  Surrey Stars team posing after winning the 2018 Kia Super League (KSL)

• She was named to England’s squad for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 which emerged as runners-up in the tournament; Australia beat England by 8 wickets in the final.

• Dunkley was named to England’s squad for the tours of India and Sri Lanka in February 2019. She picked up her first international wicket in the 2nd T20 against Sri Lanka.

• In June 2021, Dunkley received her first central contract with the England women’s cricket team.

• On 16 June 2021, she became the first Black woman to represent England in Test cricket.

• Dunkley hit a maiden ODI fifty in just her second game.

• Dunkley was named to England’s squad for their tour of New Zealand in February 2021. She played all three T20Is on the tour and scored 26 off 29 in the final match of the series which England won by 32 runs.

• In December 2021, Dunkley became a part of England’s squad for its tour to Australia to contest the Women’s Ashes.

• She was a part of England’s squad which emerged as runner-up at the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

• Dunkley scored her first century when she garnered 107 runs in the second ODI match against South Africa in July 2022, powering England to a 114-run win over South Africa.
  

  Dunkley after slamming 93-ball 107 in the second ODI match against South Africa in 2022

• She was a part of England’s squad for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
  

  A picture of Sophia Dunkley (middle) at the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

• In 2023, Dunkley smashed the fastest half-century off 18 deliveries in the WPL during a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

• She is often spotted enjoying alcoholic beverages with her friends.
  

  Sophia Dunkley (third from left) enjoying a glass of champagne after winning PCA Vitality IT20 Women’s Player of the Summer (2022)