The Scotland women’s cricket team carries a flag with them, everywhere they go.
It is a tradition that started in 2019, when all former players were presented with a cap. The first Scotland women’s match took place in 2001 and the flag has been signed by every player to represent the nation.
“It’s a really special piece of history,” says Sarah Bryce, vice-captain and wicketkeeper of the current team. “You hear stories about how they were just trying to put a team together as best as possible with no support structure. Then only 20-odd years later, we are at a World Cup. I think it is absolutely mad.”
Sarah, along with her sister Kathryn, have been integral to that process. The pair are the faces of Scottish women’s cricket and also its leadership team. Kathryn is captain; Sarah her deputy.
“Kari Carswell [nee Anderson], was player-coach when I first started and she was cap number one,” reflects Sarah, who made her debut aged 15 in 2015 while all-rounder Kathryn’s first cap came in 2011 when she was just 13. “And I think it’s crazy that I’ve literally played with someone who was in the first-ever Scotland team.”
Sarah is only 24 but is a veteran of a decade of international cricket. And before plane journeys to Dubai to play in a World Cup, she remembers the minibus journey to Devon to play in the County Championship.
“When I started we [Scotland] were basically Division Three,” Sarah explains. “I remember there were so many journeys on the bus of five, seven, nine hours. We went to Devon once and you drive on the Saturday, play on the Sunday, get back at midnight and then go to school or work the next day.
“That was what it looked like, every weekend, or every few weekends, travelling hours down to England to play a county game against anyone who was in our division.”
Qualification for the T20 World Cup was secured with a win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. A dream achieved by this generation, that was inspired by the one before it.
“I think I came in at a bit of a turning point,” reflects Sarah. “A lot of it is down to Kari and that first team who invested so much in trying to create a structure. When I made my debut we made it to the global qualifiers and we came fourth. We were two games away and there was definitely that belief that we would eventually make it.”
A series of lost qualification events followed, turning the inevitable dream into the elusive nightmare, until Kathryn Bryce put in a player-of-the-match performance against Ireland to take her nation to its first Women’s World Cup.
When did the achievement sink in? “It was actually a couple days after,” Kathryn says. “Just sat in a coffee shop reading an article that someone had written about the team and what we had achieved and how amazing it was. That realisation of how incredible it was for this group of girls to do what we have done. I was sat there with Sarah and Abtaha [Maqsood] and it was a really, really special moment.”
The emotions attached to the actual tournament are mixed. Leading into the competition, Scotland beat Pakistan and the West Indies in warm-ups, and chatter began to spread that the newbies could spring a surprise.
A narrow loss to Bangladesh on the opening day was followed by heavy defeats against South Africa and a Windies team they had beaten just weeks earlier to end any hopes of making the semi-finals.
“It is hard to know what to feel,” says Sarah. “The achievement was getting here. But as competitive sportspeople, when you are actually here you want to win.
“We actually took a moment the other day to just try and take a step back. It’s really easy to get caught up in it. We have had a couple of heavy defeats and take that hard, but actually they’re very good opposition and we have got to learn from it.”
Before the opening fixture, the group held a presentation where each player was given their official World Cup playing top and Kathryn gave a speech that has subsequently been referenced by several of her team-mates.
“Before we played that first game I told the girls that we have already created a legacy and done something that no other team has done,” says Kathryn.
“And I think it is easy to always be looking for the next thing – and we obviously want to win games of cricket – but at the same time, if we do not win we have already done something that no other team has done for Scotland women and to remember that is a special thing.”
There is still a chance to end their tournament on a high. On Sunday, Scotland take on World Cup hopefuls England, a team they have never beaten. But if any group knows how to achieve something for the first time, it is this one.