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Roberta de Melo Moretti Avery (born 9 July 1985) is a Brazilian cricketer and the former captain of the national women's cricket team.

Career

Early life and career

Moretti was born in Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais into a sporting family: her parents played golf. She initially played golf in her hometown, until the age of 16, being part of Brazilian team for the Youth South American team, in Uruguay 2000 competition. She then spent some time in the UK, before returning to Brazil in 2010. During her brief stay in UK, she approached Liam Cook and asked him to conduct few coaching sessions for her.

Her alternative sport was handball, as a goalkeeper for Poços de Caldas team until the age of 17. Moretti did not play cricket until the age of 27, when she was invited by her spouse to join the soft ball league, playing alongside the first participants from Confederação Brasileira de Cricket development program. She was inspired to pursue her interest in the sport of cricket due to her husband's involvement in cricket projects. She was part of Cricket Poços team on the first Brazilian Women's National league, in 2013 and subsequently selected as part of the Brazilian Women's National squad in 2014, making her debut in April 2014.

In addition, she also runs a fruit export business in Brazil. She currently holds a key position as an administrator at Cricket Brasil. She also teaches the sport to kids in different schools during her spare time and also regarded as a fitness fanatic as she trains at least four hours per day at the high-performance centre.

International career

In 2014, Moretti was selected to be part of the national women's cricket team in Brazil. She was the first cricketer for Brazil, male or female, to score a century in a Twenty20 match.

Moretti had her breakthrough in golf in 2017, after being top 5 on National Ranking and selected for the Brazilian team for the Copa Los Andes, in Bolívia, and Copa Srta. Fay Crocker, in Uruguay, in 2017. She was also part of the Brazilian doubles on Taça Pee-Wee, played in São Fernando Golf Club, Cotia. Moretti retired from competitive golf in July 2018.

In March 2017, Moretti was named captain of Brazil's squad ahead of the Iguassu Cup, a bilateral tour played against Argentina. As an allusion to her relatively mature age and leading status in Brazilian cricket, she has been nicknamed "Big Mom". She was also invited to be a part of the CanAm team on Philadelphia Cricket Festival, captained by Claire Taylor in that year. CanAm was the only women's team in the men's competition.

Moretti made her WT20I debut for Brazil on 23 August 2018, against Mexico, in the opening fixture of the 2018 South American Women's Cricket Championship. In the summer of 2019, she trained in the United Kingdom at Bexley Cricket Club. In October 2019, Brazil women won the 2019 South American Cricket Championship, with Moretti finishing as the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 116 runs in five matches.

In April 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Moretti took to social media to discuss mental health issues during the pandemic. The following month, she was one of forty women selected to be mentored for the ICC 100% Cricket Future Leaders Programme.

References

1. "Roberta Avery". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
2. "Brazil women's captain Roberta Moretti Avery on life as a professional cricketer". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
3. "The Cricket Library interview Roberta Moretti-Avery". Stump to Stump. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
4. "Aluna da Uninter é capitã da seleção brasileira de críquete | UNINTER NOTÍCIAS" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2021.
5. ^ "How cricket is gaining new ground in Brazil". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
6. "The Englishman coaching Brazil women". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
7. "Homenagem ao Primeiro Campeonato Feminino Brasileiro de Cricket – Cricket Brasil" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2021.
8. "Projeto Cricket Poços de Caldas revela atletas na seleção Brasileira no WSAC 2014 – Cricket Brasil" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2021.
9. "Short on bats, Brazil make their own - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
10. "Interview with Roberta Moretti – EXCLUSIVE Report on Brazil Women's Cricket". Female Cricket. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
11. "The Pioneer: Roberta Moretti Avery". CrickTalk20. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
12. "Female cricket is growing, and we are helping each other out: Moretti Avery". Women's CricZone. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
13. "Brasil pronto para a Copa Los Andes de Golfe - Surto Olímpico". www.surtoolimpico.com.br. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
14. "Brasil conquista título em torneio de golfe no Uruguai - Surto Olímpico". www.surtoolimpico.com.br. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
15. "O Portal Brasileiro do Golfe > Tudo sobre golfe: Notícias, Fotos, Vídeos, Equipamentos e mais". www.golfe.esp.br. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
16. "Copa Iguassu – Edição Buenos Aires 2017 – Cricket Brasil" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2 July 2021.
17. Farrell, Melinda (1 June 2021). "The Brazilian city with more cricketers than footballers". Sporting News. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
18. "Festival 2017 – Philadelphia International Cricket Festival". Retrieved 3 July 2021.
19. "2017 Philadelphia International Cricket Festival". globalphiladelphia.org. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
20. "1st Match, Bogota, Aug 23 2018, South American Women's Championships". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
21. Campos, Paulo Vitor (3 July 2019). "Poços-caldenses realizam intercâmbio e treinamentos de cricket na Inglaterra". Cricket Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
22. "Brazil Women win the South American Cricket Championship two years in a row". Female Cricket. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
23. "South American Championships Wrap". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
24. "South American Women's Championships, 2019/20: Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
25. "Brazil captain Roberta Moretti Avery on social media". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
26. "The 'Brazilian shot' sums up cricket in a country where the game is upbeat, fresh and joyous". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
27. "Brazil's Roberta Avery, India's Vijeylaxmi Narasimhan picked in ICC Future Leaders Programme". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
28. "Roberta Avery wants to see Brazil in the top 20 on Women's T20I Rankings". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 2 June 2022.

Further reading

• Heath, Georgie (12 January 2023). "Roberta Moretti Avery: Brazil's popular captain on her fight with depression". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 February 2023.

External links

• Roberta Moretti Avery at ESPNcricinfo
• Roberta Moretti Avery on Twitter
• Noughtie Child Podcast: Season 8 Episode 1 (4 December 2021) – includes interview of Roberta Moretti Avery

• 1985 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Minas Gerais
• Brazilian women cricketers
• Brazil women Twenty20 International cricketers
• Women cricket captains
• People from Poços de Caldas