Scotland Internationalist Fiona Urquhart has confirmed her retirement from international cricket ahead of the 2017 summer.
Fi, who now resides in Sydney has balanced club cricket and life in Australia over the past few years alongside representing her country featuring in the Women’s WT20 Qualifier in Thailand in 2015 and the recent Women’s CWC Qualifier in Sri Lanka.
Having made her debut in July 2000 against Durham Women, which was only the 3rd ever game played by Scotland Women, Fi bows out from the international scene with a total of 94 caps and as the 4th highest run scorer for Scotland.
In 87 innings for Scotland Fi amassed 1041 runs with a highest score of 97* against Hertfordshire in 2013. There were also 39 wickets taken with the ball at an average of 29.3.
Fi explained the decision to step down from playing international cricket saying “The past 16 years, I have dedicated my life to playing and representing Scotland in the sport I love and am so passionate about.
I am so proud to have been a member of the Scottish Womens cricket team, and to have been such a large part of the develop from grassroots in 2001. I have seen this team and program develop and grow far beyond what we expected and I am so privileged to be part of this.
I wish the girls all the best in the future and cannot wait to continue to support and follow your progress. I will miss representing my country however I cannot wait to start the next chapter of my life.”
Scotland Captain Abbi Aitken led the tributes on behalf of the squad and Cricket Scotland, “Fi has dedicated the best part of her life to playing cricket for Scotland. It was obvious in her style of play to any on looker how passionate Fi was every time she represented her country – a very loud and proud Scot! She will be sorely missed around the dressing room, her class-clown behaviour never failed to bring laughter to the team and Fi had a knack of upping the mood in any camp, regardless of a situation.
Her commitment to her country has been unquestionable over the years, and I’ll always remember the late night (early morning!) journeys back home after county games for us ‘Northern quines’. But as with any amateur athlete, there comes a time to hang up the boots as life priorities change. On behalf of all the squad, we wish Fi all the best for the future!”
