Scotland internationals Ailsa Lister and Hannah Rainey will be part of Thunder’s preseason tour to Dubai and India, after being offered contracts with the regional side.
The pair, who are also contracted to Cricket Scotland, have spent pre-season training with Thunder and will fly to UAE on March 7, before heading on to India on March 11. The contracts with Thunder have been agreed through funding from Hilton, a major sponsor of Thunder.
Ailsa and Hannah have been racking up the miles in recent weeks – both were in Desert Springs last week for a Scotland Women’s training camp.
Ailsa Lister said:
“I think both Hannah and I feel very privileged to receive these contracts. To be the first players to be supported by both Cricket Scotland and our region, to allow us to pursue cricket full time is very exciting, and we’re really grateful to Hilton for funding these contracts.
“To be able to call myself a professional cricketer for the first time is kind of mind blowing, to be honest! i can’t quite believe it, and I’m still getting used to it, but I’m enjoying it so far, and I’ve really enjoyed the last few months with Thunder.”
Ailsa also reflected on the recent training camp in Desert Springs, which included three practice matches with Sunrisers.
“I think it was great for the squad to get back together after being apart for a few months over the winter, with everyone having been training in different parts of the world. It was also nice to have the addition of some younger players from the U19 squad, which is always exciting, and have them begin to integrate into the senior squad as well.
“The games against Sunrisers were great, they are a decent team, so it was nice to get out in the sun, keep developing our skills and working on the things we worked on over the winter and put them into a game environment.
“We feel ready to tackle the World Cup Qualifier when it comes around next month, and we’ll go there with optimism.”
