Niamh Holland pens first professional contract at Western Storm

A member of the England side that reached the Under-19 World Cup final, the 18-year-old becomes the latest player to agree to pro terms following a successful tournament in South Africa

Cameron Clark | 13/03/2023 at 16:33

Niamh Holland has become the latest player to sign a professional contract with the Western Storm.

Part of the England side that reached the inaugural Women's Under-19 World Cup final, the 18-year-old is the ninth to pen a full-time deal.

During the tournament in South Africa, she scored 138 runs at 27.60, catching the eye early on with a half-century against Zimbabwe.

A Somerset allrounder, Holland has featured for Storm since 2020 and last summer played seven matches across the Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup, taking four wickets.

"I'm so grateful because it’s something that I've always wanted," she explained.

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^{Holland was part of the England side that reached the Under-19 World Cup final in January (ICC)}

"It's something that I've been striving for and it's a dream for it to have actually happened. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet, but I can’t wait to get going. Hopefully, I can grab this opportunity with both hands and take it forward.

"For young girls to be able to see players becoming professional, shows them that they can do it as well. That's really important. 10 years ago, the only way you could make it as a professional was by playing for England, but now there are so many more opportunities than just that. It's expanded the women's game because players can now see a route to getting to where they want to be."

The agreement sees the number of professional deals in the Storm squad grow to nine after the England and Wales Cricket Board pledged to invest £3.5 million in professional women's domestic cricket to allow the number of full-time contracts to climb to 80.

In November, Fran Wilson, Sophie Luff, Dani Gibson, Nat Wraith and Alex Griffiths were joined in the pro ranks by Sophia Smale, Lauren Filer and Chloe Skelton.