Cricket Scotland is delighted to confirm the return of Kari Carswell to Scottish cricket. The former international captain and head coach will take up the role of Scotland U19 Women's Head Coach.
Carswell, a 152-cap international during a 17-year career, returns home after nearly three years as head of women's cricket and then director of participation with Middlesex Cricket.
She will take up the role in March ahead of an exciting period for the Women's Pathway programme as the Scottish Under-19s host the Netherlands in the ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup Qualifying Tournament in July.
Kari commented she is excited to be part of the Scotland set-up again. She has watched the game for several years and it is thrilling to be back here coaching. She feels like she has learnt a lot since she has been away and wants to pass on as much as she can to the players and coaches involved.
Kari really wants to be closer to her family and has been away from Scotland for a long time. This opportunity has come up. It's a very good time to move back to Stirling. She is a proud Scot and the opportunity to give something back was too good to turn down.
Kari is looking forward to working with the players and managers across the Scottish game. Being able to help is something she is passionate about and it's such an exciting time for women's cricket around the world. “It was great to be involved first time round, and to see the progress made since is really pleasing” added she.
As a conclusion of her international career, Kari spent five years in New Zealand. She worked in coaching and development roles with Northern Districts, as Head Coach and Female Pathways Manager with Spirit, as Assistant Coach with Whiteferns Development and finally as Head Coach of the New Zealand U19 and Development teams.
She was responsible for the strategic growth and delivery of all women's and girls' cricket programmes, working with both Middlesex Cricket and the MCC Foundation, as well as supporting the delivery of London Spirit programmes.
Kari rejoins Cricket Scotland aiming to qualify for the ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup for the second year running, which will take place in Malaysia and Thailand in 2025.
She added she had met some absolutely wonderful people and loved the London experience. She is now an avid Middlesex supporter and she knows she'll be back for the matches.
Qualifying for the U19 World Cup is a big carrot. The team got a good lead into the qualifiers so there's plenty of opportunity to communicate ideas about how they play T20 cricket.
It would be a busy summer of matches, which is excellent practice for the team, while Cricket Scotland also need to continue to produce players for the senior side.