SARAH READY TO LEAD SCOTS AS BUSY WINTER BEGINS
Sarah Bryce expects continuity to be key for Scotland Women this month, as she prepares to captain her country at a tournament for the first time.
The Scotland star inherits the captaincy from older sister Kathryn, who is playing state and franchise cricket in Australia. Sarah will lead Scotland in ten fixtures in Thailand across November, with Scotland competing in the Quad Cup warm-up series before the inaugural ICC Emerging Nations Trophy begins on 20 November.
The Quad Cup begins on Friday with Scotland taking on Papua New Guinea, ahead of games with Thailand on Saturday and Namibia on Monday. The Quad Cup can be watched LIVE on the Thailand Cricket Facebook channel.
The ICC Emerging Nations Trophy features the eight leading Associate Nations and also acts as a perfect opportunity for players to make a case for selection at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in January in Nepal.
The Scots have enjoyed great success during the last eighteen months, reaching the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and narrowly missing out on this year’s ODI World Cup, so rather than changing a winning formula, Bryce plans a seamless leadership transition over the next few weeks.
“I’m looking forward to the challenges that being captain will bring and hopefully it develops me as a player, but I’ll not look to change too much,” said Bryce.
“Hopefully I become a better vice-captain as a result of this experience, but I’m really looking forward to leading the team out. It’s just great for us to get out there and play some cricket.
“It’s important for us as a team to spend time together this month and get these fixtures under our belts ahead of the World Cup Qualifier in January. Having had the success of being at our first World Cup last year, it would be amazing to replicate that and qualify for another one in England in June next year.”
Bryce has enjoyed a superb domestic season with The Blaze, but earlier this year she played in the WPL for the first time for Delhi Capitals, where she was able to lean on the leadership skills of one of cricket’s all-time greats, Meg Lanning.
“Being at the WPL, in different environments and seeing the way different players went about their business, I learnt so much,” said Bryce. “Meg was my captain, and she was brilliant for me – just to see her in action was amazing. She brought the team together, drove the standards, and brought huge cricket and tactical awareness to the table.
“To be up close and have that experience in India, I feel very lucky to have had that opportunity, and I now just want to put it into practice.”
Scotland have not played any fixtures since an agonising defeat to Ireland in their final ODI World Cup Qualifier in Pakistan in April. In preparation for this tour, the bulk of the squad met up in Edinburgh in October for a training block which included sessions outdoors in the Scottish autumn sunshine.
Next summer offers the tantalising prospect of a T20 World Cup virtually on home soil. Bryce is acutely aware of the prize at stake for Scotland, which could include a chance to play in front of a home crowd for the first time since 2022.
“One of the challenges we have as a team is that we disperse and then come back together as a squad, but we get on so well together that when we do meet up, it feels a bit like coming home, so it was great to be back in Edinburgh training recently.
“It would be absolutely massive to play a World Cup in England – being so close to home, we’d hopefully get some great support. That’s our target this winter, but there’s a long way to go.
“Being able to get behind a team that you identify with, there’s something special about being a supporter as well, and it’s easier to support us when we are at home and fans can watch and have a great day out. If we were to qualify, hopefully there might be some home fixtures ahead of that tournament which we could reap the benefits of.
“I think we are building really nicely as a squad, and we’ve achieved a lot over the last year or so, so it’s important to just keep that progress growing and hopefully we can reach that World Cup.”
Scotland Women's Squad
Scotland Fixture Schedule (all timings UK)
Quad Cup Series
ICC Emerging Nations Trophy
The ICC Emerging Nations Trophy will be broadcast live on ICC TV, with further details to follow from ICC.