Tilly Corteen-Coleman only took an interest in cricket to keep up with her brother but she very quickly realised it was all she wanted to do.
Still only 17, the slow left-armer burst onto the scene in 2024, taking four wickets in four balls in the Charlotte Edwards Cup for South East Stars before becoming the youngest player and youngest wicket-taker in the history of The Hundred.
Now Corteen-Coleman has landed in Malaysia, looking to help England build on the runners-up finish they managed in 2023. That crop included her Surrey teammate Ryana MacDonald-Gay, who has used that as a springboard into the senior squad and Corteen-Coleman is excited at the opportunity that presents itself to England.
She said: “As a team, I think we are looking to have loads of fun out there but playing high-quality and competitive cricket is what we are really going out there for.
“We have a bit of a team motto ‘evolve, embrace, enjoy’ – evolve ourselves, embrace the challenge and enjoy ourselves. All of our cricket will be playing with those values in mind. We are going to be doing our very best to win.
“I was in school at the time of the last one (U19 Women’s T20 World Cup), I couldn’t watch all of it. I followed as much as I could. I knew a lot of the players in the team, so I was rooting for them. It’s a shame they didn’t get over the line but they played some really exciting cricket.”
It has been a rapid rise for Corteen-Coleman, who was persuaded to pick up a cricket ball by older brother Hugo.
“I started at my local club, St Lawrence and Highland Court, when I was six,” she explained. “I really started because I wanted to copy my brother. We are really competitive and I couldn’t bear the thought that he might be better than me at something.
“From a young age, I knew it was what I wanted to do. I remember going to junior school and we had a careers day where we had to come to school dressed as what you want to be when you’re older. I went dressed as a cricketer. So, I always knew what I was going to do.”
Growing up close to Kent’s home ground in Canterbury, Corteen-Coleman started to realise her potential once she switched from seam bowling to spin on the advice of her under-11s coach, David Sear. From there, she went through the Kent pathways, getting the chance to spend time and even get coaching from legends of the English game such as Laura Marsh, Lydia Greenway, Charlotte Edwards and Tammy Beaumont.
Even with her obvious potential, Corteen-Coleman had no idea that she was going to enjoy such a breakthrough season in 2024 but after a late call-up to South East Stars’ pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi, she never looked back.
She said: “I had absolutely no idea. I’m so lucky and grateful for the opportunities I had last season. I hadn’t even played a match for South East Stars when I was called up to the pre-season tour.
“I then went to Sri Lanka and was lucky to be part of the travelling squad with the England U19s, which was amazing. That is when I got the call from Lottie (Charlotte Edwards) about being drafted by Southern Brave. It all went very quickly from there.
“A couple of weeks later I got the call from Surrey (South East Stars at the time) offering me a pay-as-you-play contract. That was pretty incredible.”
It quickly became clear that she was a talent, taking four wickets in four deliveries against the Northern Diamonds before Australian skipper Meg Lanning was her first victim in The Hundred.
Corteen-Coleman was blissfully unaware of the first of those feats, but certainly knew about the Lanning dismissal.
She recalled: “I can’t lie, I hadn’t even realised I was on a hat-trick or four in four. It was only because it was the last wicket of the game that I was celebrating on the pitch with the team. They told me to look at the big screen and that is when I saw it. It was pretty unexpected and an incredible day.
“The Hundred was so special and I’m so grateful for the opportunity given to me by Lottie, and to work with such an incredible group of players and coaches.
“To play on such a huge stage and have such amazing support from the crowd is everything I’d wanted and more. To have Meg Lanning as your first wicket, and caught and bowled, it’s even better. It was such a whirlwind, the Hundred and my first wicket.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else. I knew a couple of them, but not many, but they were such a great group of girls but to go straight in and play in every game, with Lottie showing such faith in me, so it was an amazing experience all-round.”
If England are to top the achievements of their 2023 side, then their young left-arm spinner will no doubt have a big role to play.
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