ICC Women's WT20Q: Five young talents to watch out for
Sterre Kalis (Netherlands)
The support staff in an international cricket team has its share of assistant coaches, managers, physios and analysts. Not often, however swollen the backroom might be, do you have an academic accompanying the players to make sure they do their homework. The Dutch girls may be representing their country in Bangkok, but “we were playing to qualify for a World Cup” is apparently no excuse back home for not spending two allotted hours on their studies.
In that Netherlands squad whose average age is 20, one of the brightest has been Sterre Kalis, the 16-year-old opener.
Kalis has batted with a composure that belies her years, making 122 runs from her five games, to go with two wickets and three catches. She's third on the list of run-getters for the tournament.
“I turned into an offspinner two months ago,” says Kalis with disarming confidence. “It's been difficult, because [before] I was a pace bowler. We had only one spinner in the team, and they said I could learn it in a short time.” Her skills, she says, she honed with help from her coach and watching games on TV.
“I've been playing cricket since I was five,” she says. “My father played cricket, that's the reason I started. My brother plays cricket for the Dutch Under-19, he's a wicketkeeper ... When I was young, I played with him.”
Not surprisingly, she looks up to another allrounder sharing her second name. “When I was young, I was watching Jacques Kallis. And now I can learn from his batting skills.”
Kalis has kept up with her studies, she insists, but, “We're here at a big tournament, and I'm focusing on the matches. When I'm back in Holland, I've to work harder!”
Kirstie Gordon (Scotland)
In the middle of an especially sweltering day in Bangkok, with Scotland getting ready to take on Ireland in the afternoon sun, Kari Anderson, Scotland coach and senior player, says: “I can't describe how different it is to playing back home. We never experience weather like this. If we play in 17º heat we think it's really warm and here it's been 35-37ºC, so it's a completely different ball game for us.”
And going out first to bowl on what is still an unfamiliar pitch with conditions changing every day, is, quite often, Kirstie Gordon.
A spinner opening the bowling isn't particularly common, but 18-year-old Gordon has slipped into the role for Scotland well. She has eight wickets from five games in the competition, including the 3 for 21 against Zimbabwe in the third-place play-off. She took the only Ireland wicket to fall in the semi-final between the teams, when she came on first change.
Both captain and coach see a bright future ahead for her. “She's been outstanding in my eyes,” says Abbi Aitken, the Scotland captain. “She's bowled under pressure, especially opening the bowling as a spinner is never an easy task. So credit to her.”
Adds Anderson, “I don't like singling people out ... but Kirstie Gordon, our spinner, has been outstanding, and Kathryn Bryce is a real special talent. Between them, they are two very, very exciting cricketers. And they've got a massive future in the game if they want it. And they're both only 18.”
Suleeporn Laomi (Thailand)
Young Suleeporn Laomi is a favourite among her captain, her team-mates and many of Thailand's cricket supporters. A petite girl, her legspin is potent, having netted her five wickets in the tournament.
Laomi, like several in her squad, came up through the ranks of Thailand cricket after her talent was spotted early on and she was offered a chance to study and play cricket through the centre of excellence.
She may be shy off the field and while facing the media, but doesn't appear to be intimidated by the occasion: her best has come against old foe China (2-16) and heavyweight Bangladesh (2-17).