Scotland set to make history as Craig Wallace leads Wildcats into first World Cup

GIVEN only 10 nations will compete at the forthcoming T20 World Cup and Scotland are ranked 12th in the world, the narrative is clear.

Firstly, that head coach Craig Wallace and his players have punched massively above their weight just to reach a tournament that gets underway tomorrow in the United Arab Emirates – rescheduled from Bangladesh – and become the first Scottish women’s side to qualify for a World Cup.

And, secondly, that the scale of the challenge as the only associate member of the ICC [International Cricket Council] will be like nothing they have ever faced before as they prepare to square up to some of the giants of the game including England, South Africa and the West Indies.

Victory over Pakistan in their first official warm-up match was soon offset at the weekend by a chastening loss to Sri Lanka who bowled the Scots out for just 58, not the way they would have wanted to conclude their World Cup preparations.

Wallace, though, is unfazed. Appointed permanent head coach in the summer after a successful period in interim charge, the former international believes his squad can go into this tournament buoyed by the strength of their performances in the qualifier and fully deserving of their place. The key, he feels, will be for Scotland to be guided by their own strengths, rather than focusing too much on the opposition.

“It will definitely be a challenge as we’ve not played that many of the full members that often,” he admits. “During the qualifier, though, we just spoke about focusing largely on ourselves and working day by day. We’re a unique group who do things slightly differently.

“If we can just stick to what we do best in the way that we act and behave and truly believe that we deserve to be here, having performed exceptionally over the last six months, then there’s no reason why we can’t compete.

“We’re ready for it. We had a really good series against the Netherlands and Papa New Guinea in August. A few of the squad were either injured or playing in The Hundred so it allowed us to bring players on the edge of the squad to come on the trip to Holland. And they all played really well and showed us that there is good depth in the women’s game now and a few of them managed to force their way into the World Cup squad.”

Scotland have been given the honour of opening the World Cup which they will do against Bangladesh in Sharjah tomorrow morning UK time. That was a match that was meant to have been played in Dhaka before the tournament was switched to the UAE due to civil unrest in Bangladesh.

And while Wallace would have loved to have taken his team there, the head coach admits having the opener on neutral ground – in a country they know well – can only go in the Wildcats’ favour.

“We were lucky in that we were coming to Dubai anyway for a pre-World Cup camp so it hasn’t affected us too much,” he adds. “It probably helps that, as an associate nation, we come to the UAE quite a lot. A lot of tournaments tend to be held here so we know the conditions pretty well so that could suit us.

“I think it’s a shame it’s not in Bangladesh as the vibe and the buzz around the country would have been amazing, especially in our first game against them. But this suits us better I think. And it makes it a bit more even now that home advantage has been taken out of the equation.”

Scottish women’s cricket has come on leaps and bounds in recent years thanks mainly to exports like Kathryn Bryce and others who has forged a reputation in the regional set-up down south.

Part of Wallace’s remit is to help to grow the game in Scotland, something that will be enhanced with every World Cup match being broadcast live on Sky. But he also realises that, for role models to be effective, they also need to be accessible.

“We definitely do have a world-class talent in Kathryn, although she’ll hate me saying that,” he adds. “The consistency she’s shown us for the past 12 months has been amazing and it’s my job to keep that going for another few weeks.

“She isn’t in Scotland a huge amount when she’s down playing for Blaze but part of the organisation now is to make sure we get a home series every year so that people like Kathryn, her sister Sarah, Rachel Slater and the rest can come up to Scotland so that young girls who are trying to get into cricket can get to see them play in person.

“That’s the best way to try to grow the game and it’s something I’ve spoken to Cricket Scotland about. For us to keep growing the game and inspiring the next generation with our role models, you can’t really do that if they’re never in the country.

“When you see the crowds that the Scotland men got for the series with Australia, the way the women’s game is going I’d be confident we could attract similar numbers which would be incredible.”