Cricket Scotland has announced a historic series which is scheduled to kick off in the month of October. The Scottish side is set to face Ireland in Desert Springs, Spain for a multi-format series consisting of both the limited-overs series. In the series, the Scottish side will play their first-ever ODI match after gaining the full ODI status in 2022.
The series will kick-off on 17th October with the first of three ODI being played on that day. This will be followed by the next two ODI’s on 19th and 21st October respectively. Scotland and Ireland will also face off for a 2-match T20I series starting on 23rd October, with the next match being played on the very next day, 24th September.
The Scottish side will be going into the series on the back of some incredible displays in the recently concluded ICC T20 Women’s World Cup Europe Region Qualifier 2023 for the T20 World Cup 2024 in Bangladesh. Thanks to Scotland’s tremendous performances, they have now sealed a place in the Global Qualifiers for the event. They won 5 of their 6 matches in the Europe Region Qualifiers.
Exciting news for Ireland Women's cricket 🤩
They're off to Spain next month for a thrilling five-match series against Scotland! #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/7rg07Er4fH
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 22, 2023
Sarah Bryce was the star performer for the Scottish side in the Qualifiers, amassing a total of 176 runs from 5 innings at an incredible average of 44. Meanwhile, with the ball in hand, Darcey Carter was quite instrumental in Scotland’s quest to advance to the Global Qualifiers. She picked up a total of 10 wickets from 6 innings at an economy rate of 4.52.
Along with the announcement of this historic series, Cricket Scotland also announced the squad for the series, with Chloe Abel and Abbi Aitken-Drummond the players who will not be a part of this series. These two will be replaced by Ellen Watson and Niamh Robertson-Jack.
Scotland’s squad for Ireland series –
Kathryn Bryce (C), Sarah Bryce, Olivia Bell, Darcey Carter, Priyanaz Chatterji, Maryam Faisal, Lorna Jack, Ailsa Lister, Abtaha Maqsood, Megan McColl, Hannah Rainey, Niamh Robertson-Jack, Nayma Sheikh, Ellen Watson
🏴 Scotland's squad for Ireland series!
Kathryn Bryce (captain)
Sarah Bryce
Olivia Bell
Darcey Carter
Priyanaz Chatterji
Maryam Faisal
Lorna Jack
Ailsa Lister
Abtaha Maqsood
Megan McColl
Hannah Rainey
Niamh Robertson-Jack
Nayma Sheikh
Ellen Watson#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/wBE86ISBjY— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 23, 2023
Cricket Scotland’s Interim Head of Performance, Toby Bailey said, “This marks the start of our preparation for the Global World Cup Qualifier, which is due to take place in the first quarter of 2024. After the recent series in Desert Springs, it will be great to go out there again and make the most of the excellent facilities.
We are trying to play an expansive brand of cricket, and we showed that with some success in the recent Qualifier. This will be a tough test for us. Ireland has a fully professionalized program, and has plenty of depth of talent, some of which we saw during the recent “A” series in Glasgow. However, we also have some very talented players so it should be an entertaining series.”
On the other hand, Scotland’s Interim head coach, Craig Wallace said, “It’s rare for us to play two series so close together, so it’s exciting for us to head back to Desert Springs and build on what was a really successful trip there earlier this month. We played some great cricket, but there’s obviously lots to work on and improve in all areas, so it’ll be amazing to test ourselves and try again to play the way we want to, against what will be a strong Ireland team.”
This series is going to be a perfect opportunity for the Scottish side to continue their impressive performances and take the same momentum in the all-important Global Qualifiers.
(Quotes sourced from Cricket Scotland’s Media Release)
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