Bryony Smith has described her decision to sign as Surrey’s first ever women’s professional as a “no-brainer”, after she was announced on Sunday as the first player to sign a contract for any of the eight new Tier One teams.

Smith will become Surrey’s first ever female professional and will also captain the Surrey Women’s side, continuing in the role which she has performed for the Stars since 2021.

The news was announced by Surrey ahead of the Stars-Surrey double-header at The Oval, which saw Stars storm to a six-wicket win against reigning champions Southern Vipers in the first leg.

“I always knew I was going to stay, unless something miraculous happened,” Smith said, speaking exclusively to CRICKETher after the match.

“I’ve been here since I was 9, and I can’t see myself playing for any other club.”

Smith refused to confirm whether any of the other Tier One sides had approached her, but CRICKETher understands that at least one other team had expressed interest in signing the 26-year-old.

She described her conversations with Surrey as “very casual”, involving a chat over coffee with Surrey Director of Women’s Cricket Emma Calvert.

“She said: ‘we want you here, and we want you to lead this team – here’s the offer!’,” Smith told CRICKETher. “I went away and thought about it, but it was a no-brainer.”

Calvert labelled Smith “one of the outstanding leaders on the domestic circuit and a fantastic leader”.

Surrey will now look to assemble the remainder of their 2025 squad. Smith said she would not be involved in selection decisions, but hoped that the Surrey team would look similar to the one she currently leads in regionals.

“I’ve got nothing to do with contracts, which I think is the right way to do it,” she said. “We’re a super-tight group here, and hopefully we keep a pretty similar group [next year].”