Surrey sign England all-rounder Freya Kemp from Hampshire
Surrey have signed England all-rounder Freya Kemp from Hampshire on a multi-year deal starting with the 2027 season. The move was reported on 28 September 2026 by BBC Sport, with Surrey confirming the deal on the Kia Oval website.
Kemp is 21 and bowls left-arm seam. That means brisk pace with sideways movement off the pitch. An all-rounder contributes with both bat and ball, and Kemp does both for England. She has played 49 times for her country, scoring 585 runs in 36 innings and taking 36 wickets.
Her reputation grew at the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup. She averaged 45 with the bat. Her strike rate was 157.89, which means she scored at almost one-and-a-half runs per ball. Fast scoring matters in T20s, where each side faces only 120 balls. Her 4-22 against Sri Lanka in the opening match was England's best bowling return of the tournament.
Kemp has been on the radar for a long time. She made her senior debut for Sussex aged 14 in the Women's T20 Cup. She has since played domestic cricket for Southern Vipers and Hampshire. That route took her from the old regional system into the new county structure.
She also knows franchise cricket well. She has played for Welsh Fire and Southern Brave in The Hundred, the 100-ball competition in England and Wales. She has also played for Perth Scorchers in Australia's Women's Big Bash League. The Scorchers have secured her return for a second season in WBBL|12, as reported by Cricket.com.au.
Surrey have not disclosed the exact length of the contract. Kemp was listed among Hampshire's key players ahead of this season's Tier 1 return, alongside Maia Bouchier, Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith. She was also listed at £120,000 in the Women's Hundred 2026 auction.
What makes this stand out is the blend. Left-arm pace bowlers are rare. Left-hand batters who strike at 150-plus are rarer still. For fans, this means Surrey get a cricketer who can change a short game in two ways, with a new ball in hand or with 30 balls left to chase.
