Last summer, the Scotland U19 cricket team qualified for the U19 T20 Women’s World Cup in Malaysia in January 2025. I was fortunate enough to be selected for this tournament and have gained a world of experience.
Acclimatising
Before heading to Kuala Lumpur, we had a training camp in Dubai which helped set us up really well for the tournament, especially in terms of acclimatisation. Moving from a snowy -2ºc Scotland to a 32ºc and 90% humidity Malaysia was a tough transition for the Scottish blood! We played four games in Dubai against Ireland and UAE.
The tournament
Upon arriving in Malaysia, we warmed up with two games against India and Nigeria. Our draw meant we had Australia, Nepal and Bangladesh in our group, so we knew we were up for a challenge. The build up to the tournament was exciting, with media days, a day with our sponsors (Heriot Watt University) and anti-doping briefings. The atmosphere in the hotel added to the thrill of the tournament as all teams playing in the region stayed together. Being stuck in a lift with the Aussies was awkward to say the least!
As the games approached, the nerves were high, and we were learning with each match. Singing the Scottish national anthem with girls I have grown up playing cricket with, was a unique experience. The match day events consisted of a long period of PMOA where all communication devices were removed to ensure there was no match fixing and weighing in and out to monitor our hydration levels. During the game, whatever nutrition we needed was made available and we had various cooling strategies.
My Sport and Exercise Sciences degree
As a Sport and Exercise Sciences student within the squad, I felt that my degree was genuinely applicable to this level of elite sport and it gave me an insight into roles that I could undertake in the future. For instance, our staff team consisted of a sports doctor, physio, psychologist, S&C coach and our coaches. I’ve certainly got my eyes peeled for a job with Cricket Scotland in the years to come for U19 World Cups!
We managed to win one game in our pool with an absolute nail-biter of a finish with our 11th man taking us over the line. This meant we were able to qualify for the super sixes, making history in Scottish cricket once again. We are the first team to make it through a World Cup group stage.
Making connections
A particularly fond memory of the tournament was getting to know the India girls (who went on to win the whole thing) on our last night. It was amazing to hear their experiences of cricket in such a different culture and to realise how alike yet different these were with our own experiences. The night ended with fireworks over KL for Chinese New Year which was particularly special to share with these future stars.
Playing in an ICC tournament was an unreal experience and coming back to reality in Durham was certainly a difficult adjustment. I loved every moment and it was great to live the realities of elite sport in this small snapshot. Hear more about our campaign on the Cricket Scotland website:
https://www.cricketscotland.com/Article/049c2aab-d9ef-4588-b518-ecc2433df600.
Discover more
Feeling inspired? Take a look at our Sport and Exercise Sciences department pages.
Find out about taking part in Sport at Durham
