Photo Credit: Cricket Scotland
Cricket Scotland is pleased to announce the appointment of Craig Wallace as the new Scotland Women’s Head Coach.
His appointment comes following an extensive recruitment process and sees Craig take over permanently after acting as Interim Head Coach since last summer. During this period, he guided the squad through two ICC T20 World Cup qualifying tournaments, culminating earlier this year in Scotland securing qualification in spectacular style for the forthcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in UAE.
Earlier this month, Scotland won five out of six matches in an ODI and T20 Tri-Series with Netherlands and Papua New Guinea, as they continue their T20 World Cup buildup.
A successful Scotland men’s international in his own right, who has won 97 caps, Craig’s coaching career began with Forfarshire and Caley Highlanders in the men’s regional series, whilst he has also worked with the Cricket Scotland men’s Performance Academy.
Craig Wallace said:
“I’m hugely excited and honoured to take on this role. It’s been an amazing year for me working with these players, and I’m just looking forward to carrying on the journey with them.
“I’ve learnt a huge amount about myself over the last year, about my strengths and weaknesses and how to understand them. Most importantly I’ve learned so much more about the women’s game and the players themselves, what they’ve been through in the past and where they want to go.
“It’s exciting to work with them to grow the women’s game and improve the national team to the best of our abilities. I’m keen to push them as far as they can go; they want to be among the best players in the world and it’s my job to create an environment that allows them to flourish.
“The potential here in Scotland is amazing. The players coming through in the Pathway are already playing a high level of cricket, and it’s our job now to give them chances to play, let them express themselves and show the world how good they are. Tournaments like those coming up, the T20 World Cup and the U19 T20 World Cup in January, are the end result of all the hard work.”
Steve Snell, Cricket Scotland Head of Performance, said:
“I’m delighted that Craig has been appointed. Since he took on the interim role, he’s shown a real zest to improve not only the quality of players in the current team, but also the wider aspects of women’s cricket in Scotland.
“Craig has approached the job in a proactive, thoughtful and extremely positive manner, and there’s no doubt that the connection he has with the team and the coaching staff is really strong and valued on all sides.
“The results on the pitch over the last year have been absolutely fantastic with Craig in charge, and qualifying for the T20 World Cup has been a major success. Equally, in terms of the way Craig has shown how he plans to take women’s cricket in Scotland forward, it’s an extremely exciting vision, and I’m very confident he will do an excellent job as Head Coach.
“There’s lot to look forward for our women’s cricket program; with the T20 World Cup next month followed by our U19 women’s squad going to Malaysia and competing in their World Cup, we’re in a really good position to move forward. Filling this full-time position of Women’s Head Coach is the next step in regard to that.
“I think it’s absolutely imperative that we keep looking to invest in women’s cricket, not only on the pitch but off it in terms of resources, facilities and people, and Craig’s appointment is a huge leap forward for us.”
NOTE:
The Scotland Women’s squad selected for the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will be announced in due course.
Name of Author: Cricket Scotland
Cricket Scotland, formerly the Scottish Cricket Union, is the governing body for cricket in Scotland, based at the National Cricket Academy in Edinburgh. Established in 1908 and restructured in 2001, it became an ICC Associate Member in 1994. The organization includes three sub-associations: the East of Scotland Cricket Association, Western District Cricket Union, and Aberdeenshire Cricket Association.
