CAPTAIN Abbi Aitken reckons Scotland’s women’s cricket side can match the men by making it to a Twenty20 World Cup. Aitken will lead her team at next month’s qualifiers in Thailand where two places are up for grabs for next year’s event India.

Preston Mommsen’s men led the way by securing a finals place earlier this year and Aitken said: “The guys have shown the way and we’re determined to follow them.”

Aitken leads an experienced squad, several of whom played in New Zealand last year while Fiona Urquhart will link up with her team-mates following a stint in Australia. The side, who head to Bangkok on November 19, are bidding to build on their domestic success after finishing fourth in the ECB’s T20 competition last summer.

The Scots have warm-up matches against China, Ireland and Zimbabwe before facing Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh and Thailand in the tournament proper. Kari Carswell, head coach and senior player in the team, said: “We are under no illusions of the magnitude of the task in conditions not many of us have experienced before.

“However, if we can play to our best and replicate some of the hard work the team put in over the summer, this tournament will help raise the profile of women’s cricket in Scotland even further.”