Sarah Jennifer Bryce (born 8 January 2000) is a Scottish

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who plays for the national cricket team as a

wicket-keeper-batter A wicket-keeper-batter is a type of player in cricket who fields primarily as a wicket-keeper and is particularly adept as a batsman. While they offer a similar advantage to a team as an all-rounder, that term is usually used to refer to players ...

. At the domestic level, she plays for the Watsonian cricket club, for English teams The Blaze (formerly known as

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

) and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and for

Welsh Fire Welsh Fire ( cy, Tân Cymreig) are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Cardiff. The team represents the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Somerset in the newly founded competiti ...

. Previously, she has taken the field for English teams

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

and

Oval Invincibles Oval Invincibles is a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in South London. The team represents the historic counties of Surrey and Kent in the newly founded The Hundred competition, which took place for the first time during the 2021 Engli ...

. Bryce is best known as a batter who has represented Scotland at cricket since she was fifteen years old. However, she is also an accomplished

wicket keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. T ...

. Her older sister,

Kathryn Kathryn is a feminine given name and comes from the Greek meaning for 'pure'. It is a variant of Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: * Kathryn Beaumont (born 1938), English voice actress and school teacher best known for her Disn ...

, similarly plays international cricket for Scotland.

Early life, family and education

Bryce was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

into a cricket-mad family. She and her sister developed an enthusiasm for all sports at an early age. With the encouragement of their parents, Bryce and her sister played hockey and tennis, and her sister joined a cricket club and took the field for its girls 1st XI team. Bryce always went to the club cricket matches, started watching them, and eventually joined in. According to Bryce, her father played a "huge role" in exposing her to cricket. She has said that he was full of enthusiasm for the game every time the family played it, either in the back garden or on the beach, or watched it on television. That enthusiasm fuelled her own love of the game. The Bryce sisters also played girls' cricket at their school,

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871, and was merg ...

. Bryce joined the girls' 1st XI team when she was about nine years old, and the boys' 1st XI when she was about 12. At that time, Edinburgh had no other girls' school teams, and so the GWC girls' 1st XI team played against many University teams, made up of similarly inexperienced players. In 2015 and 2016, the GWC girls' 1st XI team, with the sisters as members, won the senior-level Women's Scottish Cup tournament; Bryce co-captained the team in the latter year. Bryce also played for the GWC 1st XI hockey team. However: When not playing sport, Bryce learned to play the violin and piano, and was also involved in several choirs, bands and orchestras. She particularly enjoyed piano playing as "... an opportunity to switch off from cricket." Upon leaving school, Bryce did not consider becoming a professional cricketer to be a viable option, but wanted to take the game as far as she could. She therefore began a maths degree at Loughborough University in England, where her sister was already combining the study of sports science with playing cricket as a professional. She completed the degree in 2022. Bryce and her sister have done more than just study at the same university and play the same sport. They have also usually played for the same team. Bryce's sister has described their relationship as 'probably quite unique'. Bryce herself has said: Bryce's sister has been Scotland's captain since April 2018, and Bryce is her deputy. However, the two sisters have also sometimes played for opposing teams, both in English domestic competitions, and in FairBreak Invitational T20 tournaments.

Domestic career

Scotland

Bryce plays club cricket for the Watsonian Cricket Club, which is based in Edinburgh. She joined the club as a young girl, and played initially in a boys' team as there was no girls' team at that time. , Bryce was still playing club cricket alongside many of the same boys with whom she had played while growing up. She has said that the club, since even before it started fielding a women's team, has always been "hugely supportive" of her and her sister.

England: County cricket

Bryce made her English County cricket debut for the Scotland team in 2015, against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. In the

2016 Women's County Championship The 2016 Women's County One-Day Championship was the 20th cricket Women's County Championship season. The Championship was won by Kent who recorded their seventh championship, setting a new record for the number of championships won. The runners- ...

, she played five matches for Scotland in Division 3, and made 72 runs at 14.40, with a top score of 22. During the

2016 Women's Twenty20 Cup The 2016 Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2016 NatWest Women's Twenty20 Cup was the 8th cricket Women's Twenty20 Cup tournament. It took place in June and July, with 36 teams taking part: 34 county teams plus Scotland a ...

, Bryce scored the most runs of any of Scotland's players, and recorded the fourth-highest aggregate in Division 3, as Scotland went undefeated in eight matches to win the Division and achieve promotion to Division 2. In those eight matches, she made 191 runs at 27.29, with a top score of 62. In the

2017 Women's Twenty20 Cup The 2017 Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2017 NatWest Women's Twenty20 Cup was the 9th cricket Women's Twenty20 Cup tournament. It took place in June and July, with 36 teams taking part: 34 county teams plus Scotland a ...

, Bryce played eight Division 2 matches for Scotland A, and scored 96 runs at 19.20, with a top score of 37*. During the

2018 Women's County Championship The 2018 Women's County One-Day Championship was the 22nd cricket Women's County Championship season. It ran from the beginning of May to the beginning of June and saw 33 county teams and teams representing Scotland, Wales and the Netherlands co ...

, Bryce, playing for Scotland in Division 3 Group A, scored the most runs of any player in the Group. In six matches, she made 258 runs at 64.50, with a top score of 81*, against

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

. In the

2018 Women's Twenty20 Cup The 2018 Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2018 Vitality Women's Twenty20 Cup was the 10th cricket Women's Twenty20 Cup tournament. It took place in June and July, with 36 teams taking part: 34 county teams plus Scotland ...

, Bryce took the field for Scotland A in eight Division 2 matches, and made 203 runs at 40.60, with a top score of 53. In 2019, Bryce played for

in the

Women's County Championship The Women's County Championship, known since 2014 as the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup, In that season's Women's County T20 Division 1, she played six further matches for Notts, scoring a total of 175 runs at 29.17, with a top score of 60. She also played six matches for Scotland A in the Women's County T20 Division 2, making 272 runs at 90.70, including 101* against Cheshire. Bryce signed for

in 2020. By then, the final edition of the Women's County Championship had already taken place, and in 2020 the Women's Twenty20 Cup was not held, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. However, Kent did take part in the inaugural 50-over

Women's London Championship The Women's London Championship (WLC) is an English women's cricket competition. It was created in 2020 following the introduction of the regional Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy as the highest domestic competition in women's One Day cricket. The c ...

(WLC), which was organised as "... the start of the county comeback." In two innings in the WLC, Bryce scored 78 runs at a strike rate of 93.98, including 51* in Kent's 10-wicket victory against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, which was enough for her to place fourth in the overall run chart, and be named as Kent's Batter of the Year and Women's Player of the Year. The next season, 2021, Bryce played six matches for Kent in the South East Group of that year's Women's Twenty20 Cup, which Kent won. She scored an aggregate of 165 runs at 41.25, with two half centuries including 63* opening the batting against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, and was Kent's T20 Player of the Tournament. Additionally, she played in the 2021 WLC, from which Kent similarly emerged victorious. In the first of that season's WLC matches, she also captained Kent for the first time, in a 46-run win against

. In April 2022, Bryce was awarded Kent Women Cap 55. However, she played only four matches for Kent in that season's Women's Twenty20 Cup, Group 6; she scored 74 runs in all at 24.67, with a highest score of 45* against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

England: Regional cricket

In June 2020, Bryce and her sister were signed to play for the East Midlands Regional Hub, which was then based at Loughborough University and was due to field the team

in England's new regionally-based women's elite domestic competitions. The Bryce sisters were recruited on the basis that they would be released for international duty with Scotland as required; both were already ranked in the world's top 20 in T20 internationals. Even so, neither of them was well known in England at that time; Bryce had never played in the then newly defunct

Women's Cricket Super League The Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL), known as the Kia Super League (KSL) for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional women's Twenty20 cricket competition in England and Wales operated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The comp ...

regional franchise competition, and her sister had played in that league for just one season. In that year's

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugur ...

50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Bryce ended up as the competition's second-highest run scorer. with 395 runs in six games at 79.00. Her innings included four successive half centuries culminating in a share in a partnership with

Bethan Ellis Bethan Louisa Ellis (born 7 July 1999) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Warwickshire and Central Sparks. She plays primarily as a right-arm medium bowler, as a well as a right-handed lower-order batter. She has previously play ...

of 148 runs in 33 overs against Central Sparks (a new record partnership for any wicket in the RHF Trophy), and then, a week later, a List A career-best 136* in her team's final match, also against Central Sparks. In December 2020, Lightning awarded the two sisters full-time contracts, in recognition of their highly successful performances that year; of the 41 players nationally who were given a full-time regional contract, they were the only ones from an ICC Associate member nation. As was observed by ''Emerging Cricket'' at the time, the full time contracts not only "... supported ryce and her sisterfinancially...", but also gave them "... increased access and opportunities to develop their game as professional cricketers beyond their lives as students and without having to potentially sacrifice representing their nation to earn a living overseas." In the ensuing season, 2021, Bryce played a much less prominent role in the second RHF Trophy, recording only 202 runs in seven matches at 28.85, with a highest score of 90. The following year, she made five appearances in the 2022 RHF Trophy and scored 115 runs at 23. Late in 2022, the Lightning team parted company from Loughborough University, was rebadged as The Blaze, and was relocated to

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also ...

, Nottingham, to become the East Midlands' new regional side. Both Bryce and her sister remained as contracted members of the squad.

England: The Hundred

In 2021, Bryce was drafted by

ahead of the inaugural season of The Hundred. In her 10 matches for the competition-winning Invincibles team that season, including a match in which, unusually, her sister was in the opposing team, she scored only 32 runs in four innings with a top score of 29. On the other hand, she headed the overall figures for wicketkeeper dismissals by taking eight catches and completing three stumpings. Bryce was then signed by the

for the 2022 tournament. Her batting performance in that year's Hundred turned out to be much more satisfactory; amongst her teammates, she finished with an aggregate second only to

Tammy Beaumont Tamsin Tilley Beaumont (born 11 March 1991) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Kent, The Blaze, Welsh Fire, Sydney Thunder and England. She plays primarily as an opening batter and occasional wicket-keeper. She has previously pla ...

and an average second only to

Hayley Matthews Hayley Kristen Matthews (born 19 March 1998) is a Barbadian sportswoman. She plays international cricket for the West Indies as an all-rounder, batting right-handed and bowling right-arm off break. She plays domestic cricket for Barbados, Barb ...

. However, the team as a whole ended up coming last in the competition. In May 2023, Bryce was re-signed by Welsh Fire ahead of the 2023 season.

Australia

In the WBBL03 edition of the

Women's Big Bash League The Women's Big Bash League (known as the WBBL and, for sponsorship reasons, the Weber WBBL) is the Australian women's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition. The WBBL replaced the Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup, which ran from the 2007–08 ...

Twenty20 competition, held during the 2017–18 Australian season, Bryce was the Associate Rookie for

Hobart Hurricanes The Hobart Hurricanes are an Australian professional men's T20 franchise cricket team based in Tasmania, Australia. They compete in Australia's domestic T20 cricket competition known as the Big Bash League, which is a league where many in ...

under the ICC Associate Rookie programme.

International career

2011–2017: Early years

Bryce became involved in Scotland's U17 program at the age of 11 years. A highlight of her U17 career for Scotland was an unbroken partnership of 336 with her sister, against Lincolnshire U17s in 2015. Bryce's contribution to that partnership was a score of 132*, her first ever century. Reminiscing to ''Female Cricket'' in 2020 about the occasion, she said: Additionally, the partnership helped her to believe that if she kept working hard, it would be possible for her to make a debut for Scotland's senior women's team. Even though she had previously started training with the senior squad, she had found it overwhelming, and had felt that she was not good enough to be where she was. Later in 2015, Bryce made her debut for the senior team, against Somerset in a county match. The same year, she was awarded her first international cap, against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, in the

ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier The ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier (until 2018, the ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier) is an international cricket tournament that serves as the final step of the qualification process for the Women's T20 World Cup. The qualifier was hel ...

in Thailand. During the latter match, which Scotland won by eight wickets with 26 balls remaining, she participated in two run outs of PNG players, but was not required to bat. In July 2016, Bryce scored 109 runs and was "a very handy wicket-keeper" in the Europe qualifier tournament for the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup in Essex, England. Only two teams, Scotland and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, participated in the tournament. Scotland won all three of that tournament's matches, and thereby qualified for the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, held in Sri Lanka in February 2017, in which Bryce also played. In the latter Qualifier, Scotland finished fourth in the five-team Group B.

2018–2020: WT20I player

In June 2018, Bryce was selected in Scotland's squad ahead of the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament held from 7 to 14 July 2018 in the Netherlands. It was the third edition of the Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier and was the qualification tournament ...

tournament. Her sister had recently been appointed as Scotland's new captain, replacing

Abbi Aitken Abbi Aitken-Drummond (; born 11 April 1991) is a Scottish international cricketer. She plays for the Scotland Women cricket team where she is a right-handed batsman and right arm medium pace bowler. She was one of the youngest members of the tea ...

. She made her

Women's Twenty20 International Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 International is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The first Twent ...

(WT20I) debut for Scotland in a match against

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

in that tournament on 7 July 2018. During that match, which was also Scotland's first ever WT20I, Bryce carried out a stumping, took a catch, and then top scored with 36* in Scotland's nine wicket victory. She later told ''Female Cricket'' that " was really special sharing that first T20I cap moment with the whole team." She also finished the tournament as Scotland's leading run-scorer, with 162 runs at an average of 81 across five matches, and was named by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the ' ...

(ICC) as the rising star in Scotland's squad. Her individual achievements during the qualifier were summarised by the ICC as follows: On the other hand, as Bryce put it herself in an interview published in September 2020, "... it was definitely mixed emotions at the end of the tournament as we’d been one win away from going to the World Cup so that was disappointing." Bryce's final international cricket activities for 2018 were as a member of the inaugural ICC Women's Global Development Squad, which played five matches in mid-July 2018 against English Super League teams; her sister was also a member of that squad. In June 2019, Bryce was again selected in Scotland's squad, this time for the three team

2019 ICC Women's Qualifier Europe The 2019 ICC Women's Qualifier Europe was a cricket tournament that was held in Spain in June 2019. The matches in the tournament were played as Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), with the top team progressing to both the 2019 ICC Women' ...

tournament in Spain. The other two competing teams were

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the Netherlands. Both Scotland and the Netherlands won three of their four matches in that qualifier, with Bryce finishing sixth (and also third for Scotland) on the aggregate run scorers table. Bryce also featured prominently in Scotland's victory in its second match against the Netherlands; in a super over thriller, she and her sister combined to rack up an unbroken match-winning super over partnership. The Netherlands ultimately won the qualifier by recording a better net run rate, but Scotland, as the host of the next qualifying stage of the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

, also qualified for that stage. Bryce later told ''Female Cricket'': Scotland, the Netherlands,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

then combined to participate in a quadrangular tournament in the Netherlands in August 2019, ahead of the

2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2019 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in August and September 2019 in Scotland. It was the fourth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier and was the qualification tour ...

tournament in Scotland. In the absence of her sister, who had commitments with Loughborough Lightning in the English domestic Super League competition, Bryce was appointed to captain the Scottish side. After an initial loss to Thailand in the quadrangular's opening round of fixtures, Bryce led Scotland to four consecutive wins, including Scotland's first defeat of Ireland since 2011, and a victory against Thailand that ended that team's record-breaking 17 WT20I wins in a row. Bryce later described the defeat of Ireland as her 'favourite match'. "It was only the second win against Ireland in our history, and the first time for all but one in our squad," she told Cricket Scotland in 2020. In Scotland's victory over Thailand, she scored 63*, including a four to seal the win off the final ball of the match. The following day, she made 41 in 19 balls in leading her team to another win, against the Netherlands. However, her top score of 49 for Scotland in its final match of the tournament, another contest against Ireland, was not enough to prevent a nine wicket loss. In late August/early September 2019, the Scotland captaincy reverted to Bryce's sister, but Bryce was selected in Scotland's squad, for the 2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier. Bryce was the third highest run-scorer in that tournament, with 121 runs in five matches. She was also twice awarded Player of the Match, the first time for top scoring with 37* in 30 balls in a play-off semi-final against

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, and secondly for making 65 in 48 balls and completing four stumpings in Scotland's defeat of the Netherlands in the playoff for fifth place. When the ICC Women's T20I Rankings were next updated on 10 September 2019, Bryce jumped five positions to no. 14 in the batters rankings, with a career-high rating of 605 points. In the 20 WT20I matches she had played up to that date, she had scored two half centuries, against Thailand and the Netherlands, respectively, had achieved an average of just under 40 at over a run a ball, and had claimed 14 catches and 15 stumpings. In October 2019, Bryce was selected in the Women's Global Development Squad, ahead of a six-match series in Australia. The

then intervened, and the Scotland team was left facing an uncertain future after several years of progress and rebuilding. In November 2020, Bryce and her sister were both nominated for the ICC Women's Associate Cricketer of the Decade award. At the end of the following month, the ICC announced that her sister had won the award.

2021–present: Post COVID-19

In April 2021, Bryce and her sister were members of an England academy team that played two pre-season T20s. The following month, they told ESPNcricinfo that it would be an agonising decision if they were asked to be part of England's national set-up. Also in May 2021, Bryce played for Scotland in the team's post-COVID-19 return to international competition, in a bilateral series against Ireland at Stormont in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

. Scotland won the first of the four matches by 11 runs, with Bryce completing four stumpings. Bryce also bagged two stumpings and a catch in the third match, but Scotland ended up losing the series 1–3. Bryce then played for Scotland in the

2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier The 2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was played in August 2021 in Spain. The matches were played as Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), with the top team progressing to the 2022 ICC Women's T20 ...

, which was originally scheduled to take place in Scotland, but later moved to the

La Manga Club La Manga Club is a sports and leisure resort located in the south-eastern region of Spain, Murcia, south of La Manga, and bordered by the Mar Menor and Calblanque Regional Park. The resort complex opened in 1972 and covers an area of 1,400 ...

, Spain, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and held in August 2021. Scotland won all four of its matches, and therefore qualified for the

2022 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2022 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier is an international women's cricket tournament that is scheduled to be held in 2022. It will be the fifth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier and will serve as the qualification tournament ...

. Bryce's high point in the tournament was in her team's opening contest, against the Netherlands, in which she was Player of the Match for scoring 46 in 36 balls to guide Scotland to a six wicket victory. She also top scored in Scotland's 10 wicket win over Germany. In January 2022, Bryce was part of Scotland's team in the five-team

2022 Commonwealth Games Cricket Qualifier The 2022 Commonwealth Games Qualifier was a cricket tournament played in Malaysia in January 2022. Five national teams competed for one place in the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham, England, in July to August 20 ...

tournament in Malaysia, and was the team's second highest run scorer, after her sister. Scotland won the first two of its four matches, lost the other two, and eventually finished third in a tournament in which only the first placed team qualified. Bryce's best performance in the qualifier was her top score of 29 for her team in its final-match loss to Bangladesh; earlier, she had scored a less important 30 runs in the team's first-up victory over

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, in which her sister had been Player of the Match. Bryce then stood in as captain for Scotland's next two matches, during a home bilateral series against Ireland in September 2022, as her sister was absent. Ireland won both matches; a third contest had to be abandoned due to rain. Bryce's next appearances for Scotland were at the

in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In her five innings in that tournament, she made the fourth highest number of runs, with an aggregate of 152, just one run fewer than her sister. She was also awarded Player of the Match for scoring 45 in 32 balls in her team's victory over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and top scored for the team with 49 in its loss to Ireland. Scotland finished the qualifier in sixth place.

FairBreak career

Bryce has played for the Spirit team in two FairBreak Invitational T20 competitions. During the inaugural Invitational, held in Dubai in May 2022, she participated in all seven of Spirit's matches, made an aggregate of 145 runs at 20.71 with a top score of 39, took two catches and achieved four stumpings. At the second tournament, in Hong Kong in April 2023, her fortunes were more mixed. Although in six matches for Spirit she scored only 45 runs at 7.50 with a highest score of 25, she also took six catches and made two stumpings.

Playing style

Bryce is a wicket-keeper-batter who

bats Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bir ...

right-handed in the top order. She has told ''Female Cricket'' that she always fancied being a wicket-keeper; she appreciated that it was a "bit different" from the roles of every other player, and that wicket-keepers are "always in the game".

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

observes that Bryce is a "... powerful cutter of the ball ... strong down the ground against spin ... nd... also a superb wicketkeeper ..." In May 2021, Matt Roller wrote for ESPNcricinfo that she: ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket. The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner ...

'' describes her as "a seasoned international ... hooffers consistency and steadfastness", and also comments that she "... is highly respected by all her teammates not only for her cricketing ability, but also for the positivity and charisma she brings to her teams." Bryce's role models, particularly in relation to wicket-keeping, are James Foster and Sarah Taylor. She also credits former Scotland international player Kari Carswell, who has coached and played alongside her, as having had a "massive impact".

Off the field

Aside from cricket, Bryce continues to play the piano, and is also an avid and accomplished golfer. While in quarantine ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games Cricket Qualifier in Malaysia, she passed the time by practising her

putting The golf swing is the action by which players hit the ball in the sport of golf. The golf swing is a complex motion involving the whole body; the technicalities of the swing are known as golf stroke mechanics. There are differing opinions on what ...

Honours

Team

* The Hundred champion:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Women's Twenty20 Cup The Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the Vitality Women's County T20, is a women's Twenty20 cricket competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Until the end of the 2019 season, teams were organised in tie ...

South East Group champion:

Individual

Women Player of the Year: 2020 * Kent Batter of the Year: 2020 * Kent

Player of the Tournament:

References

External links

* * * – ''Cricket Scotland'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryce, Sarah 2000 births Living people Scottish women cricketers Scotland women Twenty20 International cricketers Nottinghamshire women cricketers Kent women cricketers The Blaze women's cricketers Cricketers from Edinburgh Oval Invincibles cricketers Welsh Fire cricketers