Chloe Abel’s double life is a juggling act that spans opposite sides of the globe.
Now, through no shortage of sacrifice, hours of toil far from her Scotland teammates and with the support of one very understanding manager in Hobart, she is on the cusp of a T20 World Cup debut.
The 22-year-old Tasmanian-born-and-raised fast bowler first arrived on the elite cricket scene in 2020 when she signed a state contract and was added to the Hobart Hurricanes squad aged 17.
After losing her Tigers contract in 2022 without having made a debut in either domestic competition, Abel looked overseas, moving to the UK in 2023 to play for Middlesex – while still completing a nursing degree in Australia.
With strong ties to Scotland via her mother and grandmother, she quickly caught the attention of Scottish scouts, debuting against Italy in September 2023.
“(I’m) Tasmanian born and bred, but very much proud of my Scottish heritage,” Abel told reporters in Manchester on the eve of Scotland’s opening T20 World Cup match against Ireland.
“My mum was born in Glasgow, and my 85-year-old granny’s coming down (from Scotland) for the first three games.
“Scotland’s a very special place in my heart, and it’s an absolute privilege to wear the thistle with pride and not represent just my mum and my granny, but also myself and the relationship that I have with the girls as well.”
After making her debut, Abel travelled to the United Arab Emirates as part of Scotland’s squad for their maiden women’s T20 World Cup appearance in late 2024 but was unable to break into the best XI during the tournament.
Almost two years on, Abel has continued to develop her game – despite being primarily based in Hobart, where she works as a ward nurse, more than 17,000kms away from her Scottish teammates – juggling her work commitments with cricket training.
She now has 28 T20Is and nine ODIs under her belt and after taking a breakthrough five-wicket haul against Papua New Guinea last November, helped Scotland qualify for a second consecutive T20 World Cup earlier this year.
While her Scotland teammates are based in the UK full-time, with some playing in England’s county competitions, Abel needs to balance her work with long-distance international cricket – something she said she managed thanks to her understanding employers.
“I do a fair bit of traveling back and forth to tours and things like that … (but) I really enjoy the balance that I have with professional cricket and nursing,” Abel said.
“I have a very good manager at home, she’s from Northern Ireland, so she loves her cricket as well.
“I’m very lucky with the support network I have at home and fortunate that they’re very understanding and want to support me in this career as well.”
Scotland had a winless run in their first T20 World Cup appearance in 2024, with their elevation to the biggest stage made tougher by a schedule that had them primarily playing in the daytime heat in Dubai and Sharjah.
This time, their conditions are far more familiar and they will be eyeing a breakthrough win in the Celtic derby against Ireland at Old Trafford on Saturday.
They have had the upper hand on Ireland of late, winning their last three T20I encounters including a 39-run win at the T20 World Cup qualifiers in Nepal in January.
“Every time you go out with the thistle on your chest, you want to win games of cricket … I think trying to do that at a World Cup stage obviously throws you a couple more curveballs than usual,” Abel said.
“I think it’s quite nice that we’re playing Ireland in the first game.
“I think very much the belief (in the squad) is a lot higher than a couple years ago, but I think the last T20 World Cup was obviously new and everything was new for us, so it probably took us a little bit longer to (adjust to) being on the new stage so quickly as a Scottish team.
“But we’re a really well-connected squad … we have such a great group and we’re all connected so much and really drive our team values as a whole organisation.
“(We’re) hoping that we can play some good cricket for everybody.”
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
Australia squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham. Travelling reserve: Tahlia Wilson
Australia’s Group 1 fixtures
June 13: v South Africa, Old Trafford, Manchester, 11:30pm AEST
June 17: v Bangladesh, Headingley, Leeds, 7:30pm AEST
June 20: v Netherlands, Rose Bowl, Hampshire, 7:30pm AEST
June 24: v Pakistan, Headingley, Leeds, 3:30am AEST
June 28: v India, Lord’s, London, 11:30pm AEST
Semi-final 1: The Oval, London, June 30, 11:30pm AEST
Semi-final 2: The Oval, London, July 2 (3:30am July 3 AEST)
Final: Lord’s, London, July 5, 11:30pm AEST
Click here for the full tournament schedule
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video
