SCOTLAND WOMEN'S SQUAD NAMED FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
The Scotland Women's squad has been announced for next month's ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Pakistan.
Scotland are attempting to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup, following their historic first-ever appearance at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in the UAE in October 2024.
Twelve members of that squad remain, and they are joined by the returning Nayma Sheikh and Maryam Faisal, whilst Pippa Sproul receives a first call-up after a successful ICC Women's Under 19 World Cup, in which she was Scotland's leading run scorer.
Olivia Bell misses out as she continues her recovery from a stress fracture in her back, whilst Saskia Horley is taking a break from international cricket.
The squad will head to Dubai on March 25 for a preparation camp, before moving onto Pakistan where they will play two official warm-up fixtures against Bangladesh (April 5) and Thailand (April 7).
Head Coach Craig Wallace will be supported by Joe Kinghorn-Gray, Nikki Little (Assistant Coaches), and Amy Caswell (Physio).
Scotland Women's Head Coach Craig Wallace said:
"The qualifier's an amazing opportunity, it's going to be great to have the group back together, playing against some excellent teams and really challenging ourselves.
"We've learnt a lot over the last year, with the qualifying campaign for the last World Cup and then playing in that event, and we have that belief and knowledge that we can get through these qualifiers.
"Qualifiers are always quite brutal events, there's never much margin for error, and especially at this event, it does feel like everyone can beat each other.
“We just have to focus on ourselves, and use what we’ve learnt over the past twelve months to play our brand of cricket at the highest level we can.”
"It will be a new experience playing in Pakistan, but I’ve spoken to people I know who’ve played out there, and some of the squad have been there before, so we’ll be leaning on them, getting an understanding of the conditions and how we can best adapt to them.
"It sounds like an amazing place to play cricket, so we're really looking forward to getting out there and seeing what Pakistan brings.
"Pippa (Sproul) has received her first call-up, and I'm really excited for her, it's always an amazing experience coming on tour for the first time, and I'm looking forward to having her as part of the group.
"Hopefully she can bring the excellent skills that she showed in the Under 19 World Cup in January, she's got a really good temperament and knows her game really well, so it will be exciting to see what she can do with more opportunities.”
Scotland squad:
| Kathryn Bryce (captain) | Blaze |
| Chloe Abel | Gunnersbury/New Town |
| Abbi Aitken-Drummond | Carlton |
| Sarah Bryce | Blaze |
| Darcey Carter | Lancashire Thunder |
| Priyanaz Chatterji | Surrey |
| Maryam Faisal | West of Scotland |
| Katherine Fraser | Durham |
| Ailsa Lister | Lancashire Thunder |
| Abtaha Maqsood | Essex |
| Megan McColl | Watsonian |
| Hannah Rainey | Lancashire Thunder |
| Nayma Sheikh | East Kilbride |
| Rachel Slater | Yorkshire |
| Pippa Sproul | Hampshire |
Scotland Fixtures (UK time):