Lister hails paid contracts decision

CALLUM LAW

Ailsa Lister believes the decision to award paid contracts to women’s international players will make a huge difference to cricket in Scotland.

The 19-year-old from Huntly is one of nine female players to be awarded a deal, which runs until the end of March 2024, by governing body Cricket Scotland.

Lister, who has already won 16 senior Scotland caps following her debut in May 2021, believes the contracts demonstrate Cricket Scotland’s commitment to the women’s game.

The move follows the introduction of equal match fees for male and female international players in 2021.

Wicketkeeper-batter Lister – who plays for Stoneywood-Dyce – said: “It will make a huge difference for all of us. The main thing is that it allows us to spend more time on task.

“It gives us more time to train and I now have designated time in my week where I can go and just focus on cricket instead of trying to juggle it all and maybe only get to training now and again.

“Even in the last few weeks I’ve already felt a huge difference with training all the time.

“I think it’s a huge step for cricket in this country. There are a lot of female players who have come before us and a lot of the credit for reaching this point has to go to them because they juggled international careers with full-time jobs.

“It’s a privilege for us to be given contracts and for young girls to be able to look up and think they would like to do that or think they want to play cricket for a living.

“It’s a credit to the women for all the hard work they’ve put in and it’s a commitment from Cricket Scotland to say ‘We’re investing in the women’s game and we want to push it forward.’”

Following the award of her contract, which started on April 1, Lister now spends every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Edinburgh training.

She is keen to carve a career out of cricket and opted not to go to university, spending the winter playing in Australia and for Scotland Under-19s at the T20 World Cup in South Africa.

Lister added: “It works well for me, I head down, stay over and train and then come back up later on Thursday. It means we’re not having to cram in a couple of hours on a Sunday or things like that.

“To be able to spend more time with the coaching staff and the other players makes a massive difference.

“I made the decision not to go to university and I was away in Australia in the winter. I’ve taken the plunge to see how far I can go with my cricket. I do have a wee business doing sports massage as well so that’s something that keeps me busy when I’m not playing cricket.”

This summer Lister and Scotland will be preparing for September’s T20 World Cup qualifier in Spain ahead of the tournament in Bangladesh next year.

Home series for the summer are still to be announced but Lister has also featured in the Scotland A side that has been playing in the women’s T20 against English county sides.

She said: “The World Cup qualifier in September is the main thing we’re working towards but I know Cricket Scotland are still working to get us a couple of series over the summer.

“If we get that before the qualifier it would be really good preparation.”

BRIGHT FUTURE: Stoneywood-Dyce and Scotland wicketkeeper-batter Ailsa Lister chose cricket ahead of university.