Chris Sole, a cricketer in a rugby-dominated household | ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, 2024

There are famous cricketing and sporting families, and then there is the Sole family in Scotland, one of the rarest families that has set foot into multiple sports. 

Chris Sole and Tom Sole have 63 international caps for Scotland, but even that doesn’t make them as famous as their dad, David Sole, who, to date, attracts plenty of autographs and selfies. 

In the late 80s and 90s, David was one of the hottest sporting properties in Scotland, having made 44 appearances for The Thistles. One of Scotland’s all-time memorable wins came under David’s leadership. He led the side to a 13-7 win over England in the Grand Slam decider in 1990, sealing a place in Scottish folklore.

Growing up in a sporting household is often tough, considering how the expectations are often sky-high, shooting through the roof. Naturally, cricket wasn’t Chris Sole’s first choice of sport growing up. A combination of rugby and ice hockey allowed him to escape the classroom. 

“I sort of grew up playing every sport that I could. I hated the classroom, which was the way to escape the classroom. I grew up playing a lot of rugby, ice hockey, and cricket swam through in the latter years, 18 and onwards. I tried to play a bit of everything and still do,” Chris told Cricket.com in an exclusive interview.

“It is a bit tricky to continue playing rugby or contact sports. I don’t think I will ever be as good as someone like AB de Villiers, but I like to try dabbling between different sports,” he added, with some gag. 

However, by Chris’ admission, David wasn’t too hell-bent on his kids taking up rugby as their choice of sport. In fact, his mom helped the youngster dabble between different sports, either buying them new hockey sticks or getting them good cricketing gear. But that doesn’t, however, change as to who is still famous in the household. 

“Yeah, I don’t know any different from a dad who used to play high-level sports. But he was always very supportive, he never forced us to try our hands at rugby, it was always a case of any sport that we liked. Our mum is the unsung hero, she taxi-ed us everywhere, be it getting a new hockey stick or bats and stuff,” Chris recollected. 

“Both of them were very successful. It was quite cool when someone would cross the street to shake Dad’s hands and get his autograph. Still in his shadow, a little bit, but still.”

Chris wasn’t the first child in the household to chart a different career path for himself. His elder sister, Gemma Sole, chose a career to represent the country in Netball. She remains a part of Netball Scotland, as a non-executive director. 

“We are always proud of what each have achieved. My sister (Gemma) played netball for Scotland, my younger brother (Tom) also played cricket for Scotland, and my elder brother (Jamie) played professional rugby. We are very proud of each other’s achievements and different sports. I go out and watch my sister play netball, and my brother plays rugby,” he added. 

It took Chris 22 years to make his debut for the national side, but from thereon, it took him another seven years to find his soul. Chris made the headlines in the 2023 ODI World Cup qualifiers when he thunderbolted his way through the Zimbabwean side, bowling at nearly 151 kmph, finishing with figures of 3/33 in that clash. 

He was, in fact, on the headline of every single article that day, ranging from ‘Sole stirring display’, ‘Chris, Scotland’s pace sole’ and so on. But when you bring up questions about that display, Chris is happy to be humble. 

“It was all about taking every opportunity and impacting the game (against Zimbabwe). I was lucky that it was my day. I was able to pick up early wickets of guys scoring runs. I was lucky that it came off that day. We (Scotland) didn’t want to leave anything on the pitch. We had to go out there and put on an aggressive game. I was just lucky to pick wickets (3/33) that day,” Chris remembered. 

Soon after his debut for Scotland, Chris also managed to secure a County deal to play for the Hampshire Seconds. While it was quite early in his professional career, it was a stint that Chris remembers clearly to date. 

Surprisingly, Chris found his gear as a batter, with a 59 against Glamorgan Second and 75 against Marylebone Cricket Club Universities, amongst other knocks. 

“I was playing for Hampshire second, and I loved playing in the county setup. Learnt a lot, and my cricket progressed quite a lot in the short time I was there, purely because playing with great facilities, unlike Scotland, where we scrap for indoor facilities, sharing with school and things like that. We don’t have an indoor centre and things. In terms of opportunities to train and be with some big guys, it improved my skills a lot,” Chris recollected. 

“As you mentioned, my batting increased greatly because of the pure volume, probably by 100%. Playing in better tracks and against better opposition requires you to bring your game up to the standards and put your hands up for any selection,” he added. 

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Seeing someone bowl as quickly as Chris does in the associate world is not normal. A few bowlers might bowl the occasional 145+ kmph delivery, but not everyone is as consistent as the Scotland pacer, who threatens to break one barrier after another. 

Growing up, Chris was always known for bowling the heavy ball, but breaking down the speed gun only came about when he put more emphasis and thought into gyming after Jamie exposed him to the gym world. 

“I sort of always bowled a heavy ball when I was younger, I was never express. When I started properly gyming, it was actually my older brother (Jamie); he was actually rehabbing from an injury, and there I put on muscle and got a bit more powerful. Turn around to the cricket season, I was bowling quickly,” he said. 

But his game went up a notch when he first met former Scotland pacer John Blain. Blain helped him fine-tune his skillset to a level where he would soon don the Scotland jersey. 

“I was very lucky that John Blain (former Scottish pacer) took me on under his wings. He helped me channel my bowling with the raw materials that I had. He made it quick with direction, although I do get stray sometimes here and there. He did a heavy lifting with a lot of the coaching stuff,” he had to say.

Despite his success in the 50-over format, Chris has yet to conquer T20Is. The 30-year-old has only 11 T20I caps to his name, with the last coming earlier last month (May 23) against Ireland at The Hague, where he picked up three wickets, removing Andy Balbirnie, Harry Tector and Curtis Campher. 

“I’m (still) in my infancy in T20 cricket and don’t get to play a lot in Scotland, so it is obviously tricky. I have been in some squads or been injured, I don’t have a volume of T20I experience. In terms of numbers, the more you play, the more they get to come down and get a bit better,” Chris talked about his T20I career.

That is one of the major reasons why Chris has been sort of a globetrotter, having played cricket for Chennai Braves in the Abu Dhabi T10 league, the St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League and most recently, playing for the Sharjah Warriors in the International League T20. 

So, are the conditions in the Middle East comparable to the wickets in the Windies?

“I think just all cricket as an overriding rule helped, perhaps been playing and being exposed to some top players that I have come up against for the national side. It all helps,” Chris said about the experience of playing franchise leagues. 

“It is not that identical pitches to the Caribbean, where Scotland are going to be based, but playing in good conditions and warmer conditions definitely benefits. It is a big advantage you can get, playing a high-end tournament,” he added. 

The upcoming T20 World Cup will feature a record 20 teams, separated into four groups of five. Besides the usual suspects, having a 20-team tournament also makes a lot of room for the likes of Scotland and the others in the associate world to leave a damming impact on the game that was once considered only for the elites. 

But the International Cricket Council (ICC) have previously been notorious for changing the format of the qualification for the ODI World Cup, only a year after introducing the ‘ODI Super League’, a format that allowed some of the top associate countries to compete head-to-head with the top dogs. Chris hopes the ICC doesn’t change their mind on the format, which will benefit the up-and-coming cricketing nations. 

“It is an incredible opportunity, and I hope that the structure (of the T20 World Cup) remains. We are seeing it more and more, with the associate players playing franchise cricket and everything. In terms of opportunities, it is massive, and we hope it continues. Getting just one opportunity and brushing it to the side is hard,” he has to say. 

Scotland are pitted against England, Australia, Namibia and Oman in Group B at the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States of America. While it is daunting for several teams to be in the same group as Australia and England, Chris views it as an opportunity to silence the Test-playing nations. 

“It is funny, but in T20 World Cups, the gaps are always narrow. It is because of the format, and luck can come into it a bit more. There are teams in our group who we beat last time around, like, say, England. We would love to replicate that again,” Chris said. 

“If you get one of those Test nations and you turn them over, you are in the mix for qualification. We would be trying to put on some solid performance to qualify.”

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