Kathryn's just 10 but she can still bowl over her opponents

Published on Thursday 8 May 2008 10:10

SHE'S the pint-sized secret weapon on the high school cricket team. Ten-year-old bowling sensation Kathryn Bryce, from Morningside, regularly outplays girls seven or eight years older than her.

Now she has become the first girl from George Watson's College to achieve a hat-trick in a competitive match since the team was formed 20 years ago.

Kathryn dismissed three players in a row when her school took on the first team from a top Lancashire high school.

Coaches predict she has a bright future in the game and hope she will inspire other girls to take up cricket. But the talented youngster is torn between two sports, as she also represents the East of Scotland under-12s at tennis.

Kathryn began playing cricket in her back garden when she was three, encouraged by her father, Dr James Bryce, a keen cricketer and former player for the Edinburgh Academical Cricket Club.

But she said she had only "played properly" since last season, when she took up after-school coaching sessions.

She began playing for the junior team, but George Watson's coach Liz Smith soon spotted her potential. She has now joined the senior girls' first eleven, where she plays alongside girls aged up to 18.

Ms Smith said: "Kathryn is an extraordinary young cricketer who has both the talent and the temperament to go far in the game.

"Her hat-trick against Sedbergh was the first ever achieved in a first eleven match in the 20 years that Watson's girls have been playing competitive matches and is obviously remarkable in the sense that she is still only in Primary Six." Kathryn achieved the feat, which is rare for cricketers at all levels, on Saturday, April 26, at home against the Lancashire school. Her first two victims were clean bowled, and the third caught by 14-year-old Rebecca Oliver.

Kathryn was also named player of the tournament at the Cricket Scotland National Junior Indoor Tournament in March. She regularly plays against student teams from Edinburgh University, and has joined coaching sessions at the famous Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

She said: "I like to bowl best, as I am better at bowling. I was pleased to get my hat-trick, I had never had one before."

Her dad Dr Bryce, a lecturer at Heriot-Watt University, said he was delighted both his daughters shared his love of cricket. Kathryn's sister Sarah, eight, is also a keen player.

He said: "Kathryn's always played in the garden and enjoyed cricket and tennis. I think she loves them both equally.

"I think she likes the mixture of batting, bowling and fielding, as well as being part of a team.

"She's just a normal ten-year-old child. She seems very little when she's up against the older girls. But they have been really kind to her and helped and encouraged her. They've certainly made her feel very welcome."

&#149 www.gwc.org.uk

&#149 www.cricketscotland.com