Women's U19s Cricket World Cup: Grace Scrivens hopes to lead England to glory

Captains from the U19 World Cup, including Grace Scrivens (eighth from left), line up together in South Africa

What did you do in your gap year? One teenager from Kent is spending hers captaining England in a World Cup.

On Sunday England take to the field against Zimbabwe in their first match of the inaugural Under-19 Women's World Cup.

Nineteen-year-old Grace Scrivens, who sat her A-levels last summer, will be leading them out.

Describing the moment in mid-December when coach Chris Guest rang to ask if she wanted to lead the side, she says simply: "It was a good phone call."

Scrivens, who has also captained Kent, had happily put her name forward for the role but was unsure if she would be chosen.

But for Guest, her natural leadership qualities shone through.

"Captaincy has always been something I've really enjoyed doing," Scrivens admits. "I like the pressure of it. I think it helps my game to think about others."

The ICC have organised men's Under-19 World Cups in cricket biennially since 1998, but the women's version - which has been delayed by two years due to Covid - is the first of its kind.

South Africa are hosting the tournament, which will be contested by 16 teams, divided into four groups. England face Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Rwanda in Group B.

Scotland are in a group containing India, South Africa and the UAE.

The top three teams in each group will progress to the Super Six stage. The final is scheduled for 29 January in Potchefstroom.

England are expected to easily reach the semi-finals but Scrivens, who exudes determination and focus, has a bigger goal in mind.

"We want to win the tournament," she says. "We're quite clear on that."

The England squad have spent weekends over the past three months at Loughborough, training inside and out in all weathers.

"It was snowing in December and we were out trying to take high catches!" says Scrivens.

For a group of players who barely knew each other beforehand, the intense schedule has also served a purpose.

"Coming up to Loughborough every weekend, having dinner with these people and sharing rooms - the way we have all bonded has been quite remarkable in such a short space of time," adds Scrivens.

England's coaching set-up includes former England player Laura Marsh (179 caps), while Lydia Greenway (225 caps) has also spent time with the squad.

The team's journey in South Africa has started well, with two wins in warm-up games against the West Indies and Indonesia.

In the second match, which was extended for practice purposes after England chased down their original target within six overs, Scrivens hit an unbeaten 53 from 29 balls opening the batting.

Scrivens, who also bowls off-spin, grew up playing cricket in the garden with her dad and older brother. She was selected for Kent Under-11s when she was eight, going on to make her full Kent debut in June 2018.

At the age of 16, she won a scholarship to Sutton Valence School, and spent two years there juggling her studies with cricket.

"It was quite tricky. I'd train Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then go to school Monday, Wednesday, and maybe Saturday, if I wasn't playing in the winter," Scrivens explains.

"Mum would drive me around, and I'd work in the car.

"I'm one of those people that if I'm going to do something, I want to do well at it. I'm not just going to go in and mess around, I'm going to concentrate."

The hard work paid off: she walked away last summer having achieved A*, A and B grades in her A-levels. That was alongside the professional contract she had bagged 10 months earlier for the London and East region, the Sunrisers.

The contract was due reward for a player whose talent has continually shone through.

Sunrisers notoriously failed to win a match in the 2022 season, but Scrivens finished as the joint highest wicket-taker and the third highest run-scorer in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, averaging 50 and scoring four half-centuries.

The Under-19 World Cup is just the latest example of the exciting opportunities in women's cricket opening up for Scrivens and the next generation.

There are now almost 100 professional female cricketers in England and Wales, while The Hundred has broken all records for audiences at a domestic women's sporting competition.

Scrivens, who has represented London Spirit in both seasons of The Hundred, describes herself as "riding the wave."

"It has felt quite quick!" she says. "It was always a dream to be a professional cricketer, but for it to come at 18 was special."

What next? Scrivens has applied to study Psychology and Criminology at the University of Southampton, starting in September, but is undecided on whether to take up her place.

Another long-standing ambition may yet get in her way.

"I want to break into the full England squad," she says. "I've been given the taste of it now. So I'll see where the cricket goes and take it from there!"

First, though, there is a World Cup to think about.