Scotland international Megan McColl signs for Blast stint with Steelbacks Women

The 25-year-old right-hand batter has agreed to be part of head coach David Ripley's squad for the summer ahead, and is set to play in division two of the Women's Vitality Blast, which starts with a trip to Worcestershire rapids on May 24.

The Arbroath-born player is then pencilled in to make her home debut at the County Ground on May 31, when Northants host Middlesex.

McColl is part of the current Scotland international set-up, and played for her country as recently as last week in a five-wicket win over Zimbabwe in a Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier.

She made her Scotland T20 debut against Germany in 2019, and has gone on to play 49 short-form internationals, scoring 358 runs in 36 innings, with a highest score of 50.

McColl, who has also played in 11 one day internationals, has also taken 13 T20i wickets with her medium pace, and was part of the Scotland team that played in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2024.

McColl was unveiled as the high-profile new signing as the Steelbacks announced their squad for the season ahead, that will see them play in the T20 Blast, the T20 County Cup and the Metro Bank One Day Cup Tier 2.

The bulk of last season's squad has been retained, with Ripley's side enjoying a strong first season in competitive cricket that saw them reach the semi-finals of the One Day Cup and go very close to reaching Tier 2 T20 Finals Day.

Two of last season's star Northants performers in Bethan Robinson and Amelia Kemp have been picked up by Tier 1 Academies at Warwickshire and Yorkshire respectively, but they will also stay with the Steelbacks on a dual registration.

Other dual registered players are Emily Carpenter (The Blaze), Mabel Reid (Essex), Emma Gibbs (Essex) and Clara Thakar (Essex).

Anisha Patel will continue to captain the 50-over side in the Metro Bank Cup, while Gemma Marriott takes the reins for the T20 competitions.

Ripley is very happy with his squad, which numbers at 17 with some players only playing in either T20 or 50-over cricket.

"We're all very pleased with how the squad looks for the upcoming season," said Ripley, a two-time T20 Blast winner as coach of the Steelbacks men's team.

"There's a lot of continuity from last year with the leaders around the group but there's also a healthy amount of new faces.

"We had a productive season last year and now it's all about building on that and hopefully seeing ourselves in the latter stages of all competitions.

"There’s some good young prospects in the squad with Emma (Gibbs) and Clara (Thakar), who are currently in our pathway and training with England U19's."

One notable absentee from the squad is Michaela Kirk, who was dual signed with Blaze last season and was the team's top-scorer with the bat in 2025.

Steelbacks Women start their season on Sunday, April 12 when they host Kent in a Metro Bank Tier 2 group fixture.

Steelbacks Women's squad 2026: Anisha Patel (50 over captain); Gemma Marriott (20 over captain); Beth Ascott; Emily Carpenter (dual signed with The Blaze Academy); Ava Clive (dual signed with Warwickshire Academy); May Drinkell (50-over competition only); Emma Gibbs (dual signed with Essex Academy); Chloe Hill; Amelia Kemp (dual signed with Yorkshire Academy); Megan McColl (T20 competition only); Ella Phillips; Alicia Presland; Mabel Reid (dual signed with Essex Academy); Bethan Robinson (dual signed with Warwickshire Academy); Liz Russell; Lenny Sims; Clara Thaker (dual signed with Essex Academy)