The sight of Kathryn, unbeaten on 35, being at the forefront of a momentous milestone in the history of Scotland women\u2019s cricket brought immense joy to her younger sister, wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Bryce, who was at the non-striker\u2019s end in their eight-wicket win over Ireland in the first semi-final of T20 World Cup qualifiers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt was just pure excitement, a bit of relief. Was extremely nervous for that game, like it was my fifth qualifier and to have been through that disappointment (of not qualifying for the World Cup) a few times - I felt like we were in such a good place to finally make it over the line.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cBut you never want to get ahead of yourself, until it\u2019s actually done. So as soon as that ball was hit for four, it was just like \u2018Oh we\u2019re actually going to the World Cup\u2019 It was just a lot of relief, pure excitement and just being absolutely delighted,\u201d says Sarah to IANS in the run-up to the tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Leading Scotland in their debut T20 World Cup campaign, Kathryn holds the joint seventh position in the women\u2019s T20I all-rounders\u2019 rankings. Sarah, the team\u2019s vice-captain, praised the significant impact of her older sister on the team.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cShe\u2019s just obviously developed a lot of experience over the years. This year going to the WPL and getting to play in a tournament like that in very different conditions as an overseas player and having to kind of take a bit more of that responsibility that comes with that - just really helped her.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cFrom there she\u2019s just gone from strength to strength this year and it\u2019s just amazing to see how well she\u2019s done and how consistent she\u2019s been able to be. Hopefully she can keep that form going into the World Cup and help us win some games.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ever since making her debut at the age of 15, Sarah has been an integral part of Scotland, and has experienced the disappointment of not qualifying for the T20 World Cup. It was Sarah\u2019s unwavering belief that Scotland would make it to the T20 World Cup paying off this year, even when others had doubts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWe were always hopeful and I remember kind of that during the first qualifiers back in 2015 - that really sparked that desire to make it to a World Cup. We\u2019ve always believed that we would make it at some stage.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult when you keep having those disappointments and not quite getting there and so to be able to make it this time was just absolutely incredible, a bit of relief in a way. But definitely still I had that belief that we were gonna make it at some stage.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sarah, who\u2019s earned 54 T20I caps so far, praised head coach Craig Wallace for enabling them in breaking the qualifiers hoodoo and making the cut for the ten-team tournament. \u201cHe\u2019s been brilliant and has just helped us all understand our games and where we can fit into the team.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cHe\u2019s really created a great culture where we\u2019re all just having a great time and really enjoying the privilege that comes with wearing the Scotland shirt. He\u2019s taken us to one qualifier and we qualified so that\u2019s incredible and the whole team kind of really enjoys working with him. Just really excited for where we can go over the next few years with him.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Scotland, a non-full member of the ICC, in Group B of the T20 World Cup with England, South Africa, West Indies, and Bangladesh. Sarah commented Scotland is eager to showcase their abilities in the ten-team tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be definitely a different level than we usually play at and that\u2019s going to be really exciting to see where we stand against those teams. Hopefully we can be really competitive and show where we\u2019re at. But it\u2019s a really exciting challenge that I\u2019m sure it\u2019s going to be facing some of the best teams in the world.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThat England-Scotland game is going to be an exciting one - kind of a bit of a classic rivalry I guess and that would just be really good fun. Also playing Bangladesh in the first game of the tournament will be really exciting to kind of be part of that. Plus, it\u2019s the first game at the first World Cup as well and is going to be really special, so that\u2019ll be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Most of the players from Scotland are involved in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup, with only a few of them playing in The Hundred. Sarah, who has played for Welsh Fire in The Hundred and The Blaze in Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy this year, is keen to continue in the same flow for Scotland in T20 World Cup.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe professionalism has definitely increased over the last few years. We\u2019ve been really lucky with a quite good few of the girls being able to play domestic cricket down in England and the professionalism that comes with that.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThen we just gelled really well as a squad - I think Craig did a great job of bringing us all together and really getting the best out of us and that helped us I guess to have the success that we did (get in qualifiers).\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cJust trying to keep the momentum going. I played a lot of cricket over the summer in the UK so I\u2019ve got a lot of cricket under my belt and feeling good coming into here. We\u2019ve now got this preparation period of five games before the actual tournament starts.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s just a bit of a chance to get used to the pitches out here and maybe there would be slight differences. So, just kind of figure it out over the next couple of weeks and make sure that I\u2019m ready and in the best place possible for the team when the tournament starts.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Scotland was one of the first teams to touch down in Dubai ahead of the World Cup, and they won\u2019t be entirely unfamiliar with the conditions. They played the T20 World Cup qualifiers here and were also part of an ODI tri-series in Dubai before that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sarah thinks the key to Scotland\u2019s success in the T20 World Cup is to stick to what has worked for them before. \u201cWe\u2019ve played here before; we know the conditions a little bit and potentially more than some of the full member nations that maybe haven\u2019t played here as much. So we\u2019ll definitely try and use that to our advantage a little bit but we\u2019ll just have to see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe most important thing is that we don\u2019t over complicate it. We just got to keep doing what we\u2019ve been doing and what\u2019s been bringing us success to get us here. It would be easy to go into the tournament and think we have to change this that and the other.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cBut actually we\u2019ve got here for a reason and we just got to keep doing what works for us. I\u2019m sure the analysts will kind of give us some information and we can look into that and make sure we\u2019re best prepared to play the teams that we\u2019re going to come up against. But other than that it\u2019s important that we play the way that we play and just keep doing that.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Only a day away from the start of the World Cup, Sarah confesses that the real sense of playing in the tournament, which they first got while assembling at the airport to leave for the UAE will finally sink in when they take on Bangladesh in their first match on October 3 in Sharjah.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A larger picture attached with an associate nation like Scotland being in the T20 World Cup is bringing a change in the way women\u2019s cricket is viewed back home. \u201cSince I can remember I\u2019ve always wanted to go to a World Cup. My biggest memory of a World Cup was in 2017 - when England won the final at Lord\u2019s and I was lucky enough to be there. Seeing that was incredible and I just thought \u2018imagine being part of that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI definitely wanted to kind of get to a World Cup before that but I remember that kind of being a big moment of how special it really could be and so just amazed that we\u2019re here and we\u2019re going to be part of it. When we were growing up, we didn\u2019t get to see a women\u2019s team at a World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSo hopefully it's something that\u2019s really special for people to be able to see and watch. Hopefully if they can watch and enjoy it and see us playing there will inspire them that cricket is a great sport to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI definitely wanted to kind of get to a World Cup before that but I remember that kind of being a big moment of how special it really could be and so just amazed that we\u2019re here and we\u2019re going to be part of it. When we were growing up, we didn\u2019t get to see a women\u2019s team at a World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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