Ruth McKay is a seventeen year old cricketer who has been playing since she was six. Throughout this time she has progressed from local club cricket to selection within performance pathway squads within the last four years.
I originally was not interested in playing cricket, even though my older sister and younger brother did, and I disliked going to watch their games. My older sister eventually convinced me to try out a session and surprisingly I loved it and have stuck with it ever since.
I began playing cricket with my local club, Huntly Cricket Club, where I still currently play. They have always had a large junior section making it a great place to play peer age cricket. During my time at the club I've been given opportunities to play not only junior cricket but also cricket within their senior men's teams which has been crucial in my development as a player.
One of the biggest challenges I've faced during my cricket journey has to be lockdown. Not being able to train or play matches made it very challenging to try maintain my skills and fitness. Particularly with cricket being a team sport, the transition back to regular training was a slow process as we couldn't have too many people in a group but I am glad that everything has returned to normal.
This winter I am training within the Scotland U19 pre World Cup squad ahead of the U19 women's T20 World Cup in Malaysia in January 2025. I am aiming to train to be in a good position ahead of selection.
Looking towards the Summer season I am aiming to play as much cricket as possible whether that be club cricket, regional, WPL or national.
My training programme changes depending on the time of year- winter and summer schedules are very different.
Currently I have just moved into my winter schedule which involves me attending training four to five times a week focusing on improving cricket skills. This training is in a variety of places including Huntly, Dollar and Edinburgh. Outside my scheduled training I also attend the gym two to three times a week to work on fitness that then improve my cricket skills.
This consumes a lot of my time and has led to me reducing the amount of time I spend at my dance classes and with friends but I enjoy training and improving my cricket performance so it is worth it.
I started out as a very quiet and reserved person before cricket but cricket has allowed me to develop many skills including communication, determination, confidence and agility to name a few.
I play across a few different teams which compete in different leagues. With Huntly CC I usually compete in two leagues- NESC grade 2 and NOSCA. With Caledonian Highlanders U18 I usually compete in the U18 girls regional series. With Scotland I usually compete in leagues against English county U18 women's teams.
Setbacks are very common in cricket as with most sports but I try to just accept them and think positively about how I can learn from them whether it be injuries or just challenging training sessions.
My biggest inspiration from the world of sport is Amanda-Jade Wellington.
My greatest achievement within cricket so far was winning the Beyond Boundaries T20 Women's Scottish Cup with the Northern Lights. This was the first Women's Premier League team from the North of Scotland and in our first season we won the T20 cup which no one really expected but proved that us North girls shouldn't be underestimated!
I am always motivated by the idea of trying to get to the next level. Whenever I am at training, I think about training hard to improve my game so I can play at the next level or progress within the team I am playing for. I enjoy seeing improvements in my own game and seeing these helps to stay motivated.
Don't be scared to try out any sport- just go for it!
You will have fun and it's good to even try things you think might be out your comfort zone.
The Talented Athlete Pass allows me to develop my skills close to home. Part of playing cricket and living in the North-East involves lots of travelling to training sessions further afield but having this pass allows me to train at a local gym and spend more time improving my strength and fitness without a lengthy travel.
Cricket Scotland have pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok as well as a website where there is loads of information about upcoming events.