Born on 15th February 1992 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland is ODI and T20I player for New Zealand, Leigh Megan Kasperek.
A right-arm off break bowler, Leigh made her way through junior ranks in her home country of Scotland before moving to New Zealand to further her career. It was a good move, making her international debut for New Zealand in June 2015 against India at Bengaluru. She took 3-39 including the skipper, Mithali Raj. Batting at number seven, Leigh was 21 not out as wickets tumbled around her with New Zealand bowled out for 125 chasing 142.
Against the same opposition a T20I debut came in July 2015 where she took 2-18 from her four overs and was 11 not out as she and Amy Satterthwaite guided the White Ferns to victory.
Leigh has built an impressive record in the ensuing years – in 39 ODIs she’s taken 65 wickets at 19.43 with a best of 6-46 against Australia in March 2021. She is the ninth highest wicket taker for the White Ferns in this format. A century (113) against Ireland in 2018 shows that she can bat too. Many were left scratching their heads when this player was not selected for New Zealand’s World Cup squad in 2022.
In the T20 format, Leigh has played 46 matches with 75 wickets at 14.13 and a strike rate of 13.40. Those are impressive figures in anybody’s language.
Despite not being in the frame for 2022, Leigh has played in the 2017 ODI World Cup and has also featured in 2016, 2018 and 2020 T20 World Cups.