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INTERVIEW: Scotland Coach Craig Wallace Relishing Kirstie Gordon’s Return

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Kirstie Gordon
Image: © Cricket Scotland

On the day Scotland announced their squad for the forthcoming T20 World Cup, Scotland head coach Craig Wallace spoke to CRICKETher about the long-awaited return of a certain Kirstie Gordon – who is available for selection for Scotland for the first time since 2017.

Back in February, Raf interviewed Kirstie for The Observer (paywalled link); the Blaze captain explained that a conversation with Craig had been instrumental in her decision to return to her home nation. So we got his side of the story!

He recalled: “The last time I was in Nottingham, seeing Kathryn and Sarah [Bryce], I messaged Kirstie saying, ‘shall we have a little catch-up?’ 

“I tried not to be too intense. We had a drink. I literally said, ‘what is your plan?’ And I managed to outline the next year and a half to her.

“And I could see in her eyes, she was like, ‘wow, I want to do that’. I left that meeting quite happy!”

We asked exactly what he said to persuade Kirstie that the time was right to return. “It’s the team,” he said. “It’s how well we’re playing, how well we’re acting as human beings and as people. For me that was the easiest sell – we are going to this World Cup, we are going hopefully to many more World Cups, and we will keep improving and playing a brand of cricket that I can be proud of, that she wants to be part of.

“It’s not the team it was when she made her debut – it’s so much bigger and better than that,” he added.

He apparently messaged Kirstie when the England squad was released to check in, concerned that there might be doubt or regret bubbling up. “But there was literally nothing. She just said, ‘I cannot wait to get started’.”

As for how Kirstie is feeling about facing her old team, England, at Headingley on 20 June?

“She’ll be excited to take them on. That day will be me trying to calm her down, more than anything! And try and make sure that we get the best out of her.”

A fired-up Kirstie Gordon? It should be a cracker of a match!

The full Scotland World Cup squad is below:

  • Kathryn Bryce (captain) – Blaze
  • Chloe Abel – Gunnersbury / New Town
  • Olivia Bell – Lancashire
  • Sarah Bryce – Blaze
  • Darcey Carter – Lancashire
  • Priyanaz Chatterji – Surrey
  • Gabriella Fontenla – Yorkshire Academy
  • Katherine Fraser – Durham
  • Kirstie Gordon – Blaze
  • Ailsa Lister – Lancashire
  • Maisie Maceira – Carlton
  • Abtaha Maqsood – Essex
  • Megan McColl – Glamorgan
  • Rachel Slater – Yorkshire
  • Pippa Sproul – Hampshire

ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND – 1st ODI: The Nearest Run Thing You Ever Saw In Your Life

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If you’d told me two weeks ago that England would scrape over the line in the 1st ODI, with their captain bailing them out after an otherwise pretty hapless batting performance, I’d have believed you: Nat Sciver-Brunt has done it so many times it’s become routine!

New Zealand 210 v England 211-9 #ENGvNZ 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2026-05-10T17:26:28.192Z

England inched their way to victory by 1 wicket, with 10 balls remaining; but the captain in question was of course not Nat Sciver-Brunt, but Charlie Dean, who waved farewell to Maia Bouchier with 51 still required, and somehow shepherded England’s three No. 11s up hill and down dale to the win.

In some ways it was a situation tailor-made for Dean. England needed runs, but they had plenty of balls in the bag, so perhaps the key requirement was simply to follow the advice of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Don’t Panic! And whilst there were certainly moments when it could have gone the other way, with Nensi Patel dropping a pretty straightforward catching opportunity at backward point which would have won New Zealand the game, Dean kept her wits about her. She didn’t rush things, or try to win it in a couple of hits; instead almost letting the runs come to her, and trusting her partners just enough to eke out the result.

New Zealand 210 v England 211-9 #ENGvNZ 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2026-05-10T17:26:45.967Z

England were fortunate to be chasing a target of only 211, largely because New Zealand succumbed to the most horrible of collapses in the final phase of their innings, having been well-placed at 183-4 with 8 overs left and 230 very much on the cards. As Charlie Dean mentioned at the toss, there have been a couple of high-scoring county games at The Riverside this season, with Lancashire and Durham both notching up 300+ scores there in the One Day Cup; but with heavy rain having fallen in recent days this was clearly not a 300 pitch. 230 would have won this match.

But the good work done by Melie Kerr and Maddy Green, who put on 105 through the middle overs, was undone with the bottom 5 making just 12 runs between them; and 210 wasn’t… quite… enough.

England will feel happy with the bowling performance, having struggled to finish sides off of late. Bell was excellent – the slower balls at the back end may be predictable, but if they remain on-the-mark, they’ll do the job; Corteen-Coleman doesn’t have Ecclestone’s range quite yet, but she feels like the type who will work hard to attain it; and Lauren Filer handled a difficult situation well enough, having been drafted-in to the XI only at the last minute after Issy Wong pulled up short in the warmups.

Jodi Grewcock was the one under the most pressure with her leg-spin, and while she wasn’t perfect, she probably did enough to make it difficult watching for Sarah Glenn, whose chances of ever playing for England again get slimmer by the day, given Grewcock’s potential to be the batting allrounder England are so desperate to discover. Her innings with the bat was sawn off today by her lack of confidence to review an LBW that would have been overturned; but hopefully there are further opportunities for her in the remaining ODIs to show the grit she has displayed for Essex this season and which England could sorely have done with as they trod firmly on rake after rake.

The Duke of Wellington is said to have admitted his victory at Waterloo was “the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life”; but all anyone remembers now is that he won. Wellington went on to become Prime Minister, and now lies buried in St Paul’s Cathedral; because a win is a win, however you get there.

NEWS: Last Ball Drama in Delayed 2025 Cheshire Knockout Final

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By Martin Saxon

2025 Senior Knockout Final: Didsbury 87-8, Lindow 88-8

2025 Development Knockout Final: Alvanley 70-9, Lindow 71-1

Early May isn’t usually the time for cricket cup finals, but at Grappenhall today, four teams were engaged in a third attempt to play the 2025 hardball T20 knockout finals, after two unsuccessful attempts last year.

It turned out to be a double celebration for Lindow as their first team won the Senior Knockout final and their seconds triumphed in the Development Knockout final. This also completed a season double for both teams at the Wilmslow club, as their 1st XI were champions of Cheshire Women’s League Division 1 in 2025, and their 2nd XI won Division 3 East.

There may have been some close finishes to Cheshire cup finals over the years, but surely nothing to match the drama of today’s encounter. Lindow’s Katie Farmer hit a single from the final ball to take the Wilmslow club past the target. In truth, Didsbury needed a wicket from that last delivery to pull off victory, as a simple dot ball would have left the teams tied on both runs and wickets. With the 19 over scores also the same, the decisive factor would have been the 18 over countback, when Lindow were one run ahead.

Didsbury’s Emily Wilkins opened the match by hitting the first delivery for four, but the runs quickly dried up. Emily Page took two early wickets, Libby Ackerley bowled her four overs straight through for just 10 runs and at the halfway stage, Didsbury had still scored only 35 and had not hit any more boundaries.

Things improved a little with 52 in the second half, but Roshini Prince-Navaratnam’s 35 from 45 balls was the only double figure score in the South Manchester club’s innings. Libby Taylor took 3-5 in two overs at the death just as Didsbury would have been hoping to accelerate.

Lindow began their reply by losing regular wickets, but at 37-3 after six overs and 51-4 after nine, they were staying well ahead of the required rate. The next seven overs would produce just 15 further runs and see three wickets fall, including that of Lindow top scorer Heidi Cheadle for 29. It really did seem like the bowling efforts of Prince-Navaratnam and Isabelle Hevican had turned the game in Didsbury’s favour.

The next twist came in the 17th over as 10 were added to the score. This kicked off a stand between Farmer and Page which took Lindow within 12 of victory. Three more overs of four runs each – including a couple of wides as the pressure mounted, and some scampered byes and leg byes – then took Lindow to the magic score of 88.

Earlier in the day, Lindow’s second team enjoyed a more comfortable victory. Last August, in the first attempt to play the match, Alvanley’s bowlers reduced their opposition to 39-9, but the tables were turned here by Lindow’s new ball pair of Claire Ashworth and Bethany Seddon.

Put into bat, Alvanley slumped to 19-6. After surviving the first eight deliveries without mishap, two wickets fell before the end of the second over, and further wickets fell in the third, fourth, fifth and six overs as Seddon claimed a 4-14 return and Ashworth bowled her three overs for just four runs, taking two wickets.

Agatha Simmons and Lucy Powell led a recovery of sorts, adding 33 for the seventh wicket, with Simmons the eighth to fall, for the innings top score of 70.

Despite the partial recovery, a target of 71 never looked a daunting one. Lindow’s reply began at a rate of five per over and the scoring rate never dropped too far below this, as a nine-wicket win was wrapped up in 15.2 overs – Nikki Hill’s 25 not out being the top score.

The League thanks Grappenhall CC for hosting the event, and umpires Derek Barnett and Tony Sayle.

ONE DAY CUP: Hampshire v Durham – How Many Wickets In A Wobble?

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How many wickets does it take to make a wobble? That was the question as Hampshire, with 9 runs needed from 27 overs, lost two in four balls to the off spin of Scotland’s Katherine Fraser. First Freya Kemp cleared her front leg, took a mighty swing of the blade… missed it completely and was bowled. As she turned to walk back, she took a moment to glare at her broken stumps, as if they were somehow to blame.

Hampshire v Durham

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2026-04-25T12:53:30.736Z

Two balls later Rhianna Southby joined her – also bowled, but in perhaps the most opposite way possible. Taking a huge stride forwards Southby planted her bat solidly in front of middle, in a classic forward defensive manoeuvre; which would have been straight out of the textbook, had the ball not been heading instead towards her off stump – clipping it, and leaving those Hampshire fans who were already starting to pack up their picnics with the feeling that perhaps this game was not quite as done and dusted as it had seemed moments before.

They need not have concerned themselves – the wobble was unwobbled by Abi Norgrove, who until then had been quietly pursuing a strategy of leaving the fireworks to other people. Norgrove struck the winning runs in the following over, driving Mady Villiers safely across the carpet of the Hampshire Bowl outfield to the invitingly small straight boundary at mid on, to give Hampshire a bonus point win which puts them third in the One Day Cup table – one of only two undefeated sides, alongside the opening rounds’ surprise package, Somerset.

Durham 118 v Hampshire 121-4 #ODC 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2026-04-25T13:47:58.933Z

Hampshire’s win was effected by the batters; but it had been set up by a career-best 5-22 from Lauren Bell, playing her first proper match since winning the WPL with RCB back in February. After a wicketless opening spell where she had looked understandably slightly rusty, including a 9-ball over to Emma Marlow which included a trio of wides, Bell came screaming back in the 29th over, bowling Phoebe Turner who found herself slashing at thin air as she was beaten for pace; and then having a possibly slightly unlucky Katherine Fraser adjudged LBW.

When Bell had Sophia Turner caught behind in her following over, it really was wobble time for Durham, who went from 109-5 to 118 all out, as Bell cleaned-up – trapping fellow England Lauren, Filer, LBW (Filer thought she’d hit it; the umpire didn’t agree) and then finally finishing things off as Katie Levick – as confirmed a Number 11 as they come – haplessly fended off a bit of a snorter and was caught on the ring. Bell’s figures for that spell of 5 wickets for just 4 runs, and her Stalinesque ruthlessness in executing the Durham tail, emphasise why she will be one of the first names on England’s team sheet this summer.

Chasing next-to-nothing, Maia Bouchier led a bit of a charge by Hampshire in the first few overs, striking Lauren Filer for 3 consecutive boundaries as England’s firey quick looked a bit more consistent, but a whole lot less dangerous, than she had a week before when she’d bagged a 5fer of her own at The Oval.

Durham used 5 different bowlers in the powerplay as they searched for the wickets that were going to be their only hope,  and it was the 5th of these, Mady Villiers, who made the breakthrough; although it is perhaps more accurate to say that Ella McCaughan died by her own sword – popping a bit of catching practice up to Sophia Turner at midwicket in a dismissal so reminiscent of her opening partner, that I assumed at first it was The Bouch and that the scoreboard had got it wrong!

Bouchier went on to make 47 before seeing an admittedly terrible long hop outside off stump from Filer, but inexplicably trying to pull it, and falling to a spectacular diving grab by Turner in roughly the same position she’d caught McCaughan. It was an innings that showed exactly why Charlotte Edwards continues to rate Bouchier; but just as exactly why it won’t be a massive surprise if she plays a few more games for Hampshire this season than Bell does.

As far as the game itself went, it didn’t matter of course – Hampshire closed it out, and will be the ones celebrating this evening. Meanwhile a somewhat melancholy Durham embark upon on the long drive home, perhaps thankful only that Essex failed to win again, meaning they aren’t quite rock-bottom; but nonetheless far too close to it for comfort.

ONE DAY CUP: Surrey v Durham – Filer’s Flurry in Surrey

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Rumour has it* that Charlotte Edwards was at The Oval today (Ed: is she following us around?) although she didn’t actually prove visible to the naked eye – much like some of the balls in Lauren Filer’s opening spell.

After winning the toss under blue skies at The Oval, Durham had posted 256 for 8. A skipper’s knock of 106 from Hollie Armitage, a nifty half-century from Mady Villiers and a handy back-end cameo of 18 not out off 10 balls from Sophia Turner all played a role.

But it looked to be well light of a competitive total on a belter of a wicket at The Oval. That is, until Filer began her work.

Surrey v Durham at The Oval 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2026-04-18T13:09:01.389Z

It’s a bit of an open secret that Edwards has not yet settled on her World Cup Fifteen – hence pulling all the England contracted players out of the One-Day Cup earlier this week for an intra-squad camp. Some big decisions lie ahead, including what is likely to be a three-way fight for one spot in the World Cup squad between Filer, Issy Wong and Em Arlott.

Over in Chelmsford, Wong (0-21 off 4 overs) was being pummelled by Grace Scrivens, while Arlott (2-14 off 5) was economical but unspectacular.

Meanwhile here in Surrey, Durham’s powerplay bowling exactly epitomised Edwards’s dilemma: go with the safe option of Arlott, or throw caution to the winds and opt for the ferocity of Filer?

Filer started with an erratic no-ball beamer which hurtled over the fine leg boundary, costing a sum total of five runs. She also fell over in her follow-through three times in as many overs – a worrying habit which England confidently claimed last year that they had cured her of.

“The first couple of overs was a bit of a pick and mix,” Filer said afterwards. “I said to Hollie [Armitage], ‘I’m sorry mate, I’ve probably not bowled as straight as I can’ – but the balls that did go straight were wickets. So it was just taking the confidence from those balls into future overs.”

She blamed her falls on “a big divot in the foot holes” and joked: “It’s not Lauren Filer if I don’t fall over.”

In fact, the Surrey top-order looked genuinely frightened of her pace: a fear which translated into figures of 3 for 13 in her first three overs. Paige Scholfield and Alice Davidson-Richards both had their middle stumps pegged back; in between, Alice Capsey was hurried into a drive and got an edge behind – albeit reliant on a fantastic diving catch from Tahlia Wilson to pouch it.

Just how quick was Filer bowling in the powerplay? There was no speed gun in operation, but Filer reckoned: “There were a few balls that were pretty up there.” (A reminder that for Filer, that means high 70s – she’s apparently been clocked at 80mph in training.)

Kira Chathli fought fire with fire, pulling and crunching Filer’s next over for 14 runs. But when the England quick returned for a second spell, Armitage tapped Filer on the shoulder and indicated that she should put in a deep square leg. Sure enough, Chathli sent one down her throat, handing Filer a fourth wicket and Armitage some field-placement bragging rights.

Filer often only looks dangerous when fresh, so perhaps the most interesting part of today was that her third spell (which consisted of two overs, the 29th and 30th) proved almost as threatening as her first. She basically bounced out the 19-year-old Jemima Spence, who tried to keep her body out of the way while waving her bat around, and was bowled.

The upshot of it all was that Filer finished with 5-59 – a List A best.

Of course, a typically aggressive innings from Danni Wyatt-Hodge eventually saw Surrey win by 3 wickets, picking up a bonus point in the process. But if Filer earns selection in a home World Cup on the back of today, maybe she’s the real winner?

The question, as ever, is whether the guaranteed risk is worth the possible reward. Only one woman knows the answer – and for now, she is keeping her counsel.

*Later confirmed by Filer after the match.

ONE DAY CUP: Hampshire v Essex – Young Guns (Go for It!)

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Worries about the future of England’s batting may not have entirely been put to rest on a blustery opening day of the season at the Hampshire Bowl – no one at Southampton came close to matching the 124 off 80 balls scored by 34-year-old Danni Wyatt-Hodge for Surrey v Warwickshire, 150 miles to the north in Edgbaston. But between them, Young Guns Ella McCaughan (aged 23), Abi Norgrove (20), Jodi Grewcock (21) and Freya Kemp (20) scored over 300 runs, with Hampshire emerging blinking into the daylight of a new summer, surpassing Essex’s 265 with just two balls to spare.

With Georgia Adams niggled in the quads, it was Naomi Dattani who led out a Hampshire side that contained one young debutante – 21-year-old Cesca Sweet – and one slightly older one, in the now fully evolved form of 28-year-old Pokemon connoisseur par excellence Amanda-Jade Wellington.

They quickly reduced Essex to 21-2 – Grace Scrivens caught at slip for a duck and Cordelia Griffith run out by inches via a direct hit from Dattani – but Grewcock and Lissy MacLeod set in for a 94 run partnership. By the time MacLeod was run out attempting a sharp single just a little too casually, beaten by a sharp throw from Bex Tyson, Essex had reached 115, while Grewcock went on to make 80 off 97 balls, before being bowled trying to pull a straight one from Dattani.

There was a slight sense of disappointment that Grewcock hadn’t pushed on to 3 figures; but the platform she had established nonetheless allowed Essex to close in on a final total of 265-8. Some slightly frantic work from Sophia Smale (33 off 29) and Kate Coppack (17 off 17), combined with some woeful fielding from Hampshire including 3 drops that you’d expect to be taken 999 times out of 100 at this level, allowed Essex to add 70 runs in the final 10 overs – finishing at almost exactly an “average” first innings score for this competition – 266 being the typical first dig in 2025.

With England coach Charlotte Edwards In Da House (keeping a low profile in the upper part of the pavilion) a couple of fringe players would have been keen to impress, but possibly none more so than Maia Bouchier, looking to bat her way back into England contention after being dropped last summer. Edwards has always been a fan of Bouch, having brought her to Hampshire back in the “old” county era; but whilst her talent has never been in doubt, her concentration remains an issue, and so it was today as she looked to the heavens having popped the simplest of catches up to Jo Gardner at extra cover for 7.

If Edwards really is setting store by county form, then the return of Ella McCaughan, playing her first match since injury brought a premature end to her promising 2025 season, will have given her much more to think about. McCaughan (90) and Norgrove (85) put on 147 for Hampshire’s second wicket, as they milked a decidedly average Essex attack, to keep the hosts in touch. It wasn’t the stuff for which adjectives were made, but it did a job and by the 35-over mark had taken Hampshire to 167-1 with the target now in sight, albeit with the required rate drifting towards 7s.

It needed something more, and that something came in the form of Freya Kemp, who entered the fray after Sophia Smale had McCaughan caught and bowled 10 short of her century. Kemp didn’t bring out the fireworks; but she smartly worked the spaces in the field to register a surprisingly risk-free run-a-ball 46 which turned the game decisively in Hampshire’s direction. Kemp couldn’t quite finish things off, caught in the deep by Gardner in the penultimate over; but Naomi Dattani could, striking the winning runs with a couple of balls in the bag, to get Hampshire up and running in 2026.