Logan Briggs is used to balancing his sporting loves of football and cricket – and in the next few days it will be the latter that takes centre stage.
The 18-year-old former Levenmouth Academy pupil is heading off to Netherlands today with the Scotland under-19 men’s cricket squad for the World Cup Europe Qualifier.
Scotland will be taking on Guernsey, Jersey, Netherlands, Norway and Italy and with only the side topping the standings assured of going through to the big event in Sri Lanka next year it promises to be a tough and exciting competition.
Briggs, who hopes to become an apprentice stonemason after the summer, has been having an excellent season for Falkland in the Eastern Premier Division and has taken 14 wickets in the top flight.
The left arm spin bowler is also a useful left handed batter while, when he is not on the cricket field, he can often be found in defence for East Fife under-20 football team.
Indeed, he has already made his senior debut for East Fife and his dad Dougie explained: “He really enjoys both sports and just gets his head down and works hard.
“He isn’t one for big gestures or getting carried away, he lets his sport do the talking. East Fife have been very supportive of his cricket and that has allowed him to fully focus on this event in the Netherlands coming up.”
So, how did Briggs first get into cricket?
“Well, I had played for Glenrothes and he had always been about the sport and then when he was about 12 he decided he wanted to give it a go himself,” his dad explained.
“I took him along to the Dunnikier club and he started training and played a few games before being selected for the Fife regional age-grade side.
“By that stage he had the bug for it and was loving the sport, so he moved on to play at Falkland and, at the age of 13, he was playing for their senior third XI.
“Soon after he was playing for Caledonia age-grade teams and selected to trial for Scotland under-15s and things have gone from there.
“With Falkland he has been in the first XI for a few years now and he also helped the under-16s at the club do well in the Moray League when he was eligible for that team.
“He has played for the under-17s and he is enjoying being part of this under-19s set-up, so hopefully the boys can go out and have a good tournament in the Netherlands.”
This piece first ran in The Courier on August 4, 2023
Thanks to Falkland and Cricket Scotland for the images