Scotland’s 14-year old Katherine Fraser keen to make history
Fraser, born in April 2005, goes into the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier in her home nation as one of the players who will be key in Scotland's quest to secure a place in their first ever women’s World Cup in either format, T20 or 50 overs.
Despite her youth, Fraser has already made a significant impact in this young Scotland team. In the recent quadrangular tournament in the Netherlands, featuring the Dutch, Thai and Irish sides, Fraser finished as the joint leading wicket-taker with nine wickets from her six appearances. Her three-wicket hauls in narrow victories over Netherlands and Thailand proved vital.
Now, with a World Cup berth in Australia to play for, Fraser is relishing the opportunity to help make history with her country. “It’s really, really exciting. It’s a great opportunity,” she said. “We’ve had a great run of form coming into this tournament (Scotland finished second behind Thailand in the quadrangular series) – we’ve got the chance to do something really special.
“Getting to the World Cup. That’s our main aim. There’s so much I can learn. It’s really exciting, I’ve never been to Australia so it’d be great to go and play against the best teams in the world. I’d absolutely love the opportunity to be able to do that,” said Fraser, who joined the Scotland squad in Dundee later than her team-mates in order not to miss too much school.
🎖️ Next week, Scotland will look to make history as we aim to qualify for our first @T20WorldCup.
— Cricket Scotland (@CricketScotland) August 21, 2019
Today, we can announce the 14 players selected for the qualifier.
⬇️ We asked what the qualifier means to them.#FollowScotland | #TogetherWeCan 🏴 pic.twitter.com/DHhNxlo8g1
Fraser’s more experienced team-mates have been a great help to her as she’s made her first strides in international cricket. Quick to appreciate their unwavering support, Fraser said: “They’ve been really supportive. They’re always there for you if you want to talk and I’ve learnt so much from them on the few tours that I’ve been on.”
Fraser’s interest and subsequent love for the game came from her mother Veronica, who’ll be on the sidelines for each of Scotland’s fixtures at the Qualifier. Unsurprisingly, she’s delighted for her daughter’s extraordinary success in the early days of her career.
Evidently a quick learner, Fraser, the youngest player in the tournament, may well be one of the most important. If everything goes well for Scotland, she may have to miss some more school at the beginning of 2020.