Sixth Year cricketer reflects on Women's World Cup

Sixth Year pupil, Maryam Faisal, has added to her list of accolades after being part of the first ever women's Scottish Under 19 World Cup cricket team.

Following her return, the young cricketer has gifted one of her international shirts to the School in recognition of the support for her cricket career whilst also balancing her studies.

Maryam was one of just fifteen players chosen to represent Scotland at the inaugural ICC Women’s U19 T20 Cricket World Cup in Benoni, Johannesburg. The team took part in in a pre-tournament training camp prior to Christmas in La Manga, Spain, before flying out to South Africa in January for warm up matches ahead of the tournament itself.

With a tough group to compete within, the Scotland team lost to UAE, hosts South Africa and India, missing out on the Super Six phase of the competition. They finished off their participation in the tournament with a dramatic five wicket triumph over the USA. Despite their result, Scotland Head Coach Peter Ross highlighted that in all the games played, Scotland had the opposition worried at various times and the team can be proud of their efforts.

Commenting on her recent tour, Maryam said:

The World Cup was a very different environment from any I’ve ever played in. We had a police escort and security when out in public and at matches. There were a lot of cameras, and all our matches were live streamed so everyone across the globe could see us play. My favourite moment had to be taking the catches of two prominent batters against South Africa and batting against Sri Lanka.

One of the greatest lessons I learnt whilst on tour was how important it is to be mentally strong in sport, especially in a sport like cricket. The World Cup is a high-pressure environment, you play against some of the best players in the world and naturally you begin to doubt yourself. But if I go onto the pitch with a defeated mind-set, I have lost the game before it has even started. So, I had to learn to trust my skills, trust my abilities and believe in myself.”

Maryam, who represents Clydesdale and West of Scotland Cricket Clubs, has been playing cricket since the age of eight. She first picked up a bat because her brother wanted to play and she “just wanted to do whatever he was doing”. She confesses she hated cricket for the first few years, finding it a difficult sport to stick to as she was the only girl. However, she made some good friends and once exposed to the sport more, she started to enjoy it. The tipping point was being selected for the Western Warriors U18s team five years ago and that’s when Maryam says she really started trying.

While in South Africa, she took the opportunity to volunteer at a cricket coaching clinic at the Duduza Multipurpose Community Centre run by the ICC and UNICEF, coaching over one hundred children, including many girls.

Maryam believes the increase in women's franchise cricket and the introduction of a Women’s Under 19 World Cup will help to increase the popularity of women’s cricket, making more people aware and opening the sport up to more women.

Maryam is grateful to the School for its support in her cricket career over the years, she said:

Traditionally cricket is considered a man’s sport, a lot of girls are reluctant to play. But what people forget is that sports are not gender specific, they’re for everyone and girls should give cricket a try like they would with any other sport.

Encouraging me to play boys’ cricket, helping me form a girls’ cricket team which now participates in national tournaments, and the time and effort Mr Leggat (Teacher of PE) put into not only coaching me but also helping me through the mental aspect of cricket, helped to get to where I am today.”

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What’s next for this talented young sportsperson?

She plans to get her Senior Scotland Cap and embark on future studies in medicine at university.

Mr Kenneth Robertson, Head of Senior School, said:

We are incredibly proud of Maryam for being selected to be part of the ICC Women’s U19 T20 Cricket World Cup Scotland team. Playing against some of the best teams in the world at this level is a huge achievement. On behalf of the High School, we are deeply honoured to be gifted one of Maryam’s international tops. This will be proudly displayed within the Senior School and will inspire many more young cricketers to don their whites.”