Maia Bouchier has become a well-known name not just in English cricket but across the cricketing world. While the women’s cricketer’s game is well known to fans, do you know about her cricket journey, family, relationship, and personal life? Let’s take a look.
Maia Bouchier’s Early Life and Family Background
The 27-year-old cricketer was born on December 5, 1998, in Kensington, Greater London, England. Her father is a businessman as well as a cricket enthusiast. He is an investor in Wisden Online, which bought Cricinfo in 2003, while her mother is Iranian.
Maia completed her schooling at Dragon School before moving to Rugby School. She later attended Oxford Brookes University.
Maia Bouchier’s Relationship Status and Personal Life
The England women’s cricketer has openly spoken about her relationship in several interviews and has also spoken in support of the LGBTQ+ community, identifying herself as gay. Maia Bouchier is currently dating Jess Grimson, a British international beach volleyball player and sports therapist. The couple met at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and live together in Bournemouth, England.
How Did Maia Bouchier Start Her Cricket Journey?
The right-handed batter was still very young when her father, Anthony, introduced her to cricket. The women’s cricketer made her county debut in 2014 for Middlesex against Warwickshire, where she took three wickets for 24 runs, which remains her best List-A bowling performance to date.
In 2016, she became a regular player for the team and was Middlesex’s leading run-scorer in the 2018 Championship. In 2019, Maia moved to Hampshire, where she enjoyed a successful season, starting with two half-centuries and finishing as the leading run-scorer in the T20 Cup. She has also played for Southern Vipers and Auckland.
Talking about the batter’s international career, it began in August 2021 when she was included in the England women’s T20I squad for the series against New Zealand. However, she couldn’t play after testing positive for COVID-19. She made her WT20I debut in the next match, on September 4, 2021, against New Zealand, where Bouchier’s performance was average.
She was later included in England’s ODI squad but couldn’t play initially due to various reasons. She eventually made her ODI debut against Sri Lanka on September 9, 2023. On June 30, 2024, Bouchier scored her maiden ODI half-century against New Zealand.