A 15-strong Scotland squad flew to the UAE on January 4 for a pre-tournament training camp and warm-up fixtures before arriving in Malaysia on January 11 for the main event.
There, they will play one of the world’s best sides—Australia—on January 18 (Scotland v Australia in Kuala Lumpur), followed by matches against Nepal and Bangladesh. It promises to be a great experience for right-arm seam bowler Lucy, now 18, and her teammates.
The young Scots secured their spot at the showpiece event in August, when they won a qualifying series against the Netherlands. Lucy was also part of a senior Scotland XI squad that took part in the Women’s European Cricket T10 Championship in Spain just before Christmas.
“We’re all very excited about going away to the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia,” said Lucy, who plays her club cricket for Stewart’s Melville and is now studying product design at Northumbria University.
“The training has been tough at times, with head coach Kari Carswell and all the coaching staff pushing us in the gym and in the nets to help us improve in pressure situations.
“We’ve had training every weekend in the run-up to the tournament, and there has been clear progress made—personally and as a squad—which is really encouraging to see, looking ahead to the World Cup.
“I’m really looking forward to Malaysia. I think it’ll be a challenge with the climate we’re not used to, but we’re going to make the most of the warm-up games in Dubai and then further warm-up games in Malaysia to work on our skills.
“Personally, I think it’ll be amazing to show my skills on the world stage, as the women’s game is only getting bigger, and we’ve all worked so hard over the last few months. Now we can’t wait to show everyone what we can do.
“The way we played in the qualifiers gave us a boost, and having the senior women at their World Cup a few months ago [they were in the UAE for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in October] was another massive boost. We all look up to that squad so much; the players are a big inspiration, and where they are now is where we’d like to be in years to come. We’ve heard from a few of them about their experiences, and it’s helped us massively in our training.”
Softball cricket for Lucy began when she was in Primary 6 at The Mary Erskine School, and the following summer she joined the Stewart’s Melville club.
“At the time when I started, it was so unknown. The sport was fairly new to the girls taking it up, and that always excited me,” she said.
“As I got older, players like fellow Erskine Stewart Melville former pupil Katherine Fraser really inspired me to play at as high a level as I could, and it’s still a massive dream of mine to play in the Scotland women’s team in the future.
“As my cricket progressed, I moved into regional under-18 and Scotland under-15 teams, then Scotland Emerging, before joining the under-19s squad.
“I captained the school first team for two years and now captain the Stewart’s Melville senior team—both have been great honours.
“I also really enjoy coaching girls at the Mary Erskine and the Stewart’s Melville club now, because I can already see how much things have changed since I started. I want to help younger girls progress.
“The women’s game is growing so rapidly, and the skills of young players coming through are improving quickly, with opportunities via the Cricket Scotland pathway and at clubs all over the country.”
We will be cheering Lucy on this weekend!
