There is, reveals Katherine Fraser, a distinctly different feeling within the Scotland women’s cricket camp as they head into their second-ever Women’s T20 World Cup in comparison to their debut appearance two years ago.
The time around, there’s no uncertainty or self-doubt. Rather, the prevailing feeling is one of quiet confidence and, having secured some of the team’s best-ever results in recent months, it’s a mood that’s entirely justified.
Victories over Bangladesh and Pakistan this month alone, both of which are higher-ranked than eleventh-placed Scotland, has ensured the Scots’ confidence levels are peaking at just the right time. This weekend, Scotland begin their Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup campaign and, says Fraser, they could not have prepared themselves any better as they head into today’s match against Ireland.
“The recent games have been really great for us - Pakistan are good opposition so it was really nice to get a win over them in our final warm-up game, so the mood is really positive,” says the 21-year-old from Edinburgh.
“When you beat teams like that, it's going to give you confidence and it's really promising going forward. We do back ourselves more than we did two years ago (at the 2024 T20 World Cup). We've gained a lot of confidence in the last two years and everyone's just really excited to get going now.”
This T20 World Cup is of particular significance to the Scots given quite how close to home it’s being held. With England and Wales the host nations, Fraser and her compatriots will feel, almost, at home over the coming weeks and her side is, the Edinburgh native is keen to stress, keen to show-off the brand of cricket that’s seen them improve quite so dramatically over the past year-or-so.
“I think this is the best cricket we've ever played. With the license we've been given and how fearlessly we're playing, it's really exciting,” says Fraser, who plays her club cricket for Northern Superchargers.
“You can see how much everyone's enjoying their cricket and it's massive having the self-belief and the confidence that we do.
“World Cups don't come around every day and so all the hard work over the last two years has been going towards this moment, so hopefully we can make the most of it.”
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The side’s improvement in form, as well as the tournament's proximity to Scotland, means there will likely be a brighter spotlight upon Fraser and her compatriots than has ever been the case in the past. With that spotlight comes pressure but, insists Fraser, the entire Scottish squad, despite being a primarily young group, is well-equipped to handle any pressure that may weigh upon their shoulders over the coming weeks.
“We are aware that there's going to be more attention on us this time around and the fact that England is hosting means there's more awareness of the tournament,” says Fraser.
“But we’re also aware of how good we are and so we just want to get started with the matches now.”
Scotland’s World Cup charge begins this morning against Ireland at Old Trafford Cricket ground, with their tournament group also including England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. While Fraser knows it’s important to get their campaign off to a good start, she’s keen to stress it’s not imperative. But, having recorded several T20 victories over Ireland in recent seasons, including at the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year, Fraser, who opens the batting for Scotland as well as bowling off-spin, is hopeful her side can start as they mean to go on.
"Ireland is a team that we know very well and which we've played a lot over the last couple of years,” she says.
“We've had some good successes against them recently but also, if the first match doesn't go to plan, I still think we've got it in us to do well and really compete against the best teams in the world. But of course we'd absolutely love to win the first game, that’d be the ideal start.”
The fixture of most significance for Fraser and her compatriots, in the group stage at least, will be their head-to-head with England, which takes place at Headingly next Saturday. With the English women ranked second in the world for T20 cricket, Fraser knows defeating the host nation will take a monumental effort but she’s also aware that a good performance could go quite some way to raising the profile of cricket, and particularly women’s cricket, in Scotland.
“It's a huge thing to play against England - it's every Scottish athlete's dream, growing-up, to do well against England,” she says.
“So this is huge for women's cricket - hopefully this can give the women’s game in Scotland more visibility. And as for the result, in T20, anything can happen so we want to hold ourselves to the highest standards and see how far we can go.”
Vital to the Scots’ progress in this tournament will be the performance of captain, Kathryn Bryce.
28-year-old Bryce has established herself as a truly world-class player with recent accolades including being named ICC Associate Cricketer of the Decade (2011–2020) and becoming the first Scot to reach the ICC top 10 player rankings.
For the Scots to have a successful tournament, Bryce must be on top form and for Fraser, who’s been alongside her in the national team for several years, they could have no more impressive figure spearheading this campaign.
“Kathryn is absolutely vital to the squad,” says Fraser of Bryce.
“Everyone sees the runs and the wickets and her fielding but I think what people don't see so much is how great a leader she is. She trains so hard and you can really see that transfer onto the pitch and everyone else in the squad is aspiring to be at her level.
“She's in unbelievable form for Scotland this summer and hopefully she can have a great tournament.”
