A 16-year-old with the world at her feet, Alice Capsey has long been considered an exciting talent by those in the women’s game around Surrey.
Having first represented the Club as a 9-year-old, Capsey rose through the county ranks at remarkable pace; playing in the U17s County Cup as a 13-year-old and making her senior debut at just 14 back in 2019.
The top order batter saw her stock sky rocket on Sunday, when she was named Match Hero for her 59 from 41 balls for Oval Invincibles against London Spirit at Lord’s. When you consider that she’s also a highly proficient off spinner, the true extent of her talent becomes obvious.
Having played for Surrey & South East Stars at grounds like The Kia Oval and Emerald Headingley already in her fledgling career, she’s seen some of this country’s most iconic cricketing cathedrals. But to shine like she did on Sunday at Lord’s, with the crowd in the ground and watching all around the world, is another step entirely.
A Reigate Priory club player, who has just completed her first year at St Bede’s Sixth Form in Redhill, Capsey has raced through the Surrey system that the likes of Nat Sciver and Bryony Smith came through before her.
Richard Bedbrook is currently the Regional Director of Women’s Cricket for the South East region which encompasses Surrey & Kent. He was chosen for this role due to his experience as the Surrey Women’s Head Coach and before that, working on the Surrey Academy that produced talents in the men’s game such as Sam Curran & Ollie Pope.
He said: “It has been an amazing few years for Alice and this is still the very early stages of a fruitful career in the game.
“From her debut for Surrey in the summer of 2019 as a 14 year old, Alice has continued to develop the prodigious talent she has year on year and as a mature young woman, she is handling the changes that are taking place in the Women’s game with aplomb.
“We look forward to continuing to help her develop as a person and as a cricketer, both on and off the field and hope to see many more match winning contributions from her across the various levels of the game.”
It was in 2019 that she made her breakthrough into the Surrey Women senior team, playing six matches that summer all before her 15th birthday. Initially, her bowling stood out as she claimed 10 wickets in those six games.
The curtailed 2020 season affected cricketers up and down the country but for a 15-year-old prospect, the two months of cricket that were possible proved invaluable to her progress.
Immediately bumped up to the top of the order at both county and regional level, Capsey scored 321 runs in 12 innings across List A & T20 cricket including a high score of 73 not out in the 50 over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
After another winter of training, Capsey has made 261 runs in T20 cricket in 2021 with the regional campaign still to be completed following the conclusion of The Hundred.
Kirstie White is one of the most experienced players in county cricket, an opening batter for Hampshire & Surrey since 2002 and now with South East Stars too. She’s played alongside many of the stars of the domestic women’s game over the last two decades, but holds special praise for the talent of Capsey.
She said: “There aren’t many young players that know their game as well as she does. She has a really clear plan and knows how to execute it. I’ve learnt so much from her. She doesn’t put herself under too much pressure but she is a very serious character
“Cricket is her life and she is always playing. She has that cricket brain and even at just 16, there are already so few people who know as much about the game as she does.
“It’s brilliant to see her go and flourish. You can tell that the team and coaching staff have got complete faith in her and that just gives you that extra 10%.
“It wasn’t a surprise for any of us at Surrey & South East Stars to see her perform the way she did on Sunday. That’s just Alice Capsey being Alice Capsey. I can only see her going from strength to strength after this.”
Wherever Capsey does go from here, everyone at the Club and in the wider county is proud of what she’s already achieved.
