Huntly’s Ailsa Lister has been named in the Scotland squad for the inaugural ICC Women’s Under-19 T20 cricket World Cup.
The Northern Lights/Stoneywood Dyce wicketkeeper will be part of the U19 player pool competing next month in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In May, Lister made her senior Scotland debut as the Wildcats defeated Ireland in the first of four T20 internationals in Belfast.
The U19 World Cup tournament is made up of 16 teams split into groups of four, and will be held between January 7-24.
Scotland feature in group D alongside India, South Africa, and the UAE.
The top three teams from each group will then progress to the Super Six round, which will consist of two groups of six. If Scotland qualify, they will move to Group 1, which will comprise of three teams, each from Groups A and D.
BREAKING NEWS: Scotland announce the U19 women's squad for the upcoming @ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup ➡️ https://t.co/LDdYMK2RQS 🏴 #followcotland pic.twitter.com/UDskuBoXaL
— Cricket Scotland (@CricketScotland) December 12, 2022
The semi-finals on January 27 will consist of the top two teams from each group and the final will be played at the same venue two days later.
‘Extremely talented’ Scotland – Ross
Peter Ross, Scotland women’s U19 head coach, cannot wait for the players to experience this historic competition.
He said “It is a hugely exciting time ahead for this U19 Scotland Women squad as they prepare for the inaugural U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.
“They will have the privilege of being the first Scottish female cricket team to ever participate in a World Cup and that is something which they can be proud of forever.
“It is scheduled to be a brilliant tournament that will provide a number of opportunities for these players to learn more about themselves as people and as developing cricketers.
“It was evident during their qualifying campaign this is an extremely talented group who have the ability to deliver high quality performances.
“I am confident that, if they can continue to play with that same style and mindset, they will showcase how good a team they are and will play some really exciting cricket.”
Squad will shape up in Spain
The full squad is: Katherine Fraser (c) – Stewart’s Melville, Ailsa Lister (vc)(wk) – Northern Lights/Stoneywood Dyce, Molly Barbour-Smith – Gunnersbury Women, Olivia Bell – Stockport Georgians, Darcey Carter – Hayes and Whitstable, Maryam Faisal – Clydesdale/West of Scotland, Maisie Maceira – Carlton / Gala, Orla Montgomery – Dumfries, Niamh Muir – Dumfries/St Michael’s, Molly Paton – Stewart’s Melville, Niamh Robertson-Jack – Grange, Nayma Sheikh – West of Scotland/East Kilbride, Anne Sturgess – West of Scotland/Clydesdale, Emily Tucker – Watsonians, Emma Walsingham – Stewart’s Melville.
As part of the tournament preparation, the squad will be training at La Manga in Spain before Christmas and then will fly out to South Africa in early January to play some warm-up matches.