Into the Heart of Scottish Cricket

Scotland’s journey in cricket has been a brave one, in spite of the lack of the facilities they have played with lot of courage, only to be hit by one obstacle after another, a look at the Scotland’s cricket and its future

 

Scotland's scarcity of cricket has put them in danger of being forgotten

It has been a year when Scotland last played an international game and with Covid hitting cricket like a jolt, the Scotland’s tryst with the destiny has unfortunately hit by a deadlock. Suddenly the dream of playing in World Cup and getting Test status have turned into the battle of survival.

The challenge had come at a time when Scotland had suddenly slipped down the radar than other major European nations. England had been major cricket force in the continent, with Ireland getting Test status in May 2018 and Netherlands qualifying for ICC ODI Championship league (2019-2023), this led Scotland plunging to the bottom of the European countries not in terms of cricket but in funding and resources available to them. In such a circumstances Scotland only source of cricket were the teams visiting in summer but with the Coronavirus pandemic damaging cricket in 2020, it has wiped all their fixtures this year.

A year is a long duration in any sphere of life and if its sports then there is a risk of slipping down the memory. Kyle Coetzer, one of Scotland’s top batsman acknowledges the fact the cricket in Scotland is on danger of being forgotten.

Calum Macleod - One of the top players 

Since their baptism in International cricket, 21 years ago in World Cup in England, Scotland have had topsy turvy ride. In the first decade of their journey into their maidenhood, Scotland’s aim was to play more games but as they found out that the journey to international cricket is less tough than the battle to survive, the games against top sides have been quite sporadic over the years.

In the decade gone by, Scotland started to build a side which could challenge the sides like Ireland, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Players like Peter Mommsen, Kyle Coetzer, Callum MacLeod, Richie Berrington, Safyaan Sharif and Josh Davey have tried their best to keep Scotland floating in the top 16 International teams.

Over the years while Scotland has been able to play more games but then these games have not been again top 8 sides. Since 1999 they have played 115 ODIs which might look a healthy figure, considering they are non-Test nation but out of these 115 only 24 have been against top 8 Test countries. This roughly becomes 24 games in 21 years, 1 match in a year against topflight side. In such circumstances it is hard to expect Scotland to climb the ladder in International cricket.

Kyle Coetzer - Lack of cricket is concern for everyone in Scotland 

Scotland has more cricketers than Ireland, better cricket structure than Zimbabwe and Afghanistan but over the years their progress had been hit hard by several roadblocks. In 1990s the country’s cricket had challenge to create their own identity from English cricket. After making their entry in ICC as associate member in 1994, they sealed the 1999 World Cup berth in England, defeating Ireland in 1997. While Scotland could not make much benefit of the home world cup, but it gave them a feel of the international cricket.

The next decade was a downward slide, by 2005 only Kenya had ODI status which meant that Scotland’s game were no more international games. It resulted in decline of public’s interest and media’s coverage. Scotland fought against all odds to qualify for the World Cup 2007. They lost all their matches but were able to get high profile game against India in Scottish summer of 2007. From here onwards teams touring England started to stop at Scotland and use to play a practise encounter, this was great for Scotland as during these years got games against Australia, New Zealand, and England, with Ireland and Afghanistan.

By 2015 World Cup, Scotland’s stock has risen to a considerable level, they were getting regular games and qualification for 2015 World Cup was considered to be a new high in Scottish Cricket. The team though lost all the games in the global summit, but the biggest jolt was ICC’s decision to limit the next edition of 50 over tournament in 2019 to only to top 10 teams. The associates saw this as limiting their chance of rise because the world cup was their only window to show the global audience how far they and their cricket had progressed.

The ICC’s ODI league was another chance for associates but there was only one spot for grab for which there was cutthroat competition among remaining of the associate nations. Apart from top 12 countries, the other 6-8 major associate nations contested for the sole spot. This time Scotland, Namibia, Nepal, Papua and New Guinea and Scotland were prime contenders. Scotland failed to close in on 13^th spot which was sealed by Netherlands.  It was a major win as winner will be playing in some of the crucial high-class fixtures, in next 3-4 years.

This was a blow for Scotland which has been compounded by the COVID-19. However, those who know Scotland cricket from close, they affirm that Scotland has always been able to come over the obstacles and this time they are more determined to reach to their ultimate goal, the Test status, which might be a long hard road but then Zimbabwe and Ireland are a great source of inspiration that patience and hard work never go unrewarded.