The winner of Women’s Player of the Year at the 2023 Irish Cricket Awards also shares her thoughts on making Ireland her new home.
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As with many life-long passions that we carry with us through our lives, they can often begin at home. This was the case with Ireland Women’s cricket team star player, Arlene Kelly, who tells us how her love for cricket was ignited far from the country she now calls home:
“Mine was the classic story of Dad and my brothers playing cricket in the backyard. My brother signed up for a cricket club and I wanted to do the same. Then I played boys cricket right through until the under-15s, and then moved into women’s cricket in New Zealand, before making the trip over to Ireland in 2022.”
That move proved to be a life-changing for Arlene, as not only did she become part of the Irish Women’s Cricket team for the 2022 T20 World Cup, but she essentially found herself in the position of being able to call two places, at very opposite ends of the world, her home.
Ireland is a home away from home
When it came to making that big life change of coming to Ireland, Arlene reflects: “To be honest, it was very different to what I expected it to be. I came over just to spend time with family kind of play one last season of cricket. There was no pressure, no expectations. I was quite fortunate to be offered the chance to make my debut for Ireland against South Africa in June of 2022, which was highly unexpected. It is also why I’m here now doing this interview, so it’s an opportunity that I’ll never regret in my life.”
“There are definitely similarities between Ireland and New Zealand within the landscape. So while I think it took me a little bit longer to settle than I had anticipated, I don’t think that was anything to do with people or not feeling welcomed. I’ve never once not felt welcomed.”
“It’s a funny one. I went back to New Zealand a few months ago, and as I was flying back to Ireland, it was the first time that I felt like I was flying home. I think that I’m lucky enough to have two homes. So I was flying home from home.”
What it is like to be named Player Of The Year
The speed at which Arlene has settled into her new life in Ireland and established herself as a key player on the Ireland Women’s team is underlined by her success in being named as both ICC Women’s Player of the Month in August 2023, and Women’s Player of the Year at the 2023 Irish Cricket Awards.
The full resonance of winning those awards has yet to fully sink in with Arlene, who tells us: “I don’t know if I’ve taken the time to reflect on that just yet. I think that I’m still playing and I just want to keep getting better, and maybe once I’ve retired I’ll take a proper look back.
“I realise how special those awards are, and obviously it’s always a privilege to be recognised by your teammates and the country. That was really special, but it’s not really something that I’ve sat down and reflected on just yet.”
Arlene Kelly
The positive impact of sport on mental health
Certa, one of Ireland’s largest fuel brands, is the title sponsor of Ireland’s Women’s cricket team. It is providing valuable support to help Cricket Ireland to attract more young girls into the sport and to develop women’s cricket as a major sport in Ireland, and to ultimately become a major player in world cricket.
That concept of support is not something that is lost on Arlene as someone who is a strong advocate for mental health and who gives a powerful insight into the positive impact that sport can have on anyone who might be dealing with mental health concerns.
Arlene tells us: “Just because you can’t see mental health, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I do think that it is an area that society as a whole has gotten better at normalising the conversation around. I think we’re a bit more comfortable around the concept of ‘It’s okay not to be okay’. But I definitely think that we can still remind each other that it is alright to ask for help. It is okay to be vulnerable. And hopefully, the more we do, the less stigma there will be around mental health.
“From a sporting context, I feel that sport allows people to feel like they are part of a community. To feel like they belong, to feel like they have a worth, which can definitely – in my opinion – help with people’s mental health.
“Personally, I like to use meditation and breathing and try to remind myself that you can only control what you can control. Be where your feet are, be in the moment, and that will give you the best chance to perform, whether that is in the sporting field or in the household or working environment.”
Certa is the title sponsor of the Ireland Women’s Cricket team. Certa’s ambition is to empower the team to continue pushing new boundaries and to perform competitively against the top nations in women’s cricket. They are also working with Cricket Ireland to help the sport thrive from grassroots to elite level and to inspire young players to follow their dream of becoming professional cricket players in Ireland.
Certa, part of the DCC plc, operates Ireland’s largest network of unmanned, pay@pump forecourts and home heating depots.
See certaireland.ie for more information.
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