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Scotland national cricket team

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The Scotland national cricket team represents Scotland in the game of cricket. When they play in the English one-day Friends Provident Trophy, they compete as the Scottish Saltires. The Scottish Saltires play their home matches at The Grange, Edinburgh (and occasionally at Titwood in Glasgow, in the past having been Hamilton Crescent).

They were elected to associate membership of the International Cricket Council in 1994 after having severed their cricketing links with the England cricket team two years earlier. This allowed them to qualify for the Cricket World Cup in 1999 but they lost all their five matches. Furthermore, the team were unable to qualify in 2003.

In 2004 the Scotland cricket team competed in the inaugural ICC Intercontinental Cup. They first played Ireland and the Netherlands, and then on the back of those results progressed to the semi-finals in Sharjah. They overcame Kenya in the semi-finals, and then won the Cup by beating Canada in the final. They also competed in that tournament in 2005, but failed to progress past the first round. By qualifying for the semi-finals of the 2005 ICC Trophy on 7 July 2005 they have gained One Day International status from 1 January 2006 to the next ICC World Cup Qualifier in 2009. Scotland played their first One Day International outside of World Cups against Pakistan in June 2006, with the European Championship matches against Ireland and the Netherlands during August also being classed as full One Day International games.

The current captain of the side is Ryan Watson, of Forfarshire, who has held the role since April 2007. The coach is currently Australian Peter Steindl, succeeding Peter Drinnen, who was forced out of the job in somewhat controversial circumstances.

History

Before ICC Membership

The first recorded cricket match in Scotland took place in Alloa in 1785. It would be another 80 years however, before Scotland played their first full match, against Surrey in 1865, where they won by 172 runs.

The first Scottish Cricket Union was formed in 1879, and the national team beat Australia by 7 wickets three years later. The cricket union became defunct in 1883, and Grange CC took over the administration of the game until 1909. The first match against Ireland took place in Dublin in 1888, with the Irish emerging victorious. They also played South Africa, the West Indies, an all-Indian team, and New Zealand before the start of World War 2.

1948 saw Australia visit Scotland for two games at the end of their tour of England. These games, both of which were won by the Australians, were to be the last international games for the legendary Don Bradman. The Don signed off in typical style, making a fine unbeaten 123 in the innings victory.

Scotland first competed in English domestic cricket in 1980, when they competed in the Benson & Hedges Cup for the first time. 3 years later, they took part in the Nat West trophy. Their first B & H win would come against Lancashire in 1986.

ICC Membership

In 1992 Scotland severed their ties with the TCCB, and England, and gained associate membership of the ICC in their own right in 1994. They competed in the ICC Trophy for the first time in 1997, finishing third and qualifying for the 1999 World Cup, where they lost all their games. The 2001 ICC Trophy saw them finish 4th, losing a play-off game to Canada, but they won the 2005 tournament, beating long-time rivals Ireland in the final. 2004 saw Scotland first confirm themselves as one of the leading associate nations by winning the inaugural Intercontinental Cup. They didn't progress beyond the first round in the 2005 tournament, however.

Present day

2006

March 2006 saw Scotland embark on a pre-season tour to Barbados. They performed with some credit, although they only won one of their 6 games, against a Barbados XI. They owed much of their success to Dougie Brown, who re-qualified to represent Scotland internationally in 2004. They competed in the C & G Trophy in English domestic cricket in the early part of the 2006 English cricket season. They performed better than expected, winning three of their nine games, and finishing eighth in the Northern conference.

In June, they played their first ODI since the 1999 World Cup when they took on Pakistan in Edinburgh. Without key players Dougie Brown and Navdeep Poonia, they lost by five wickets. They finally got their first ODI win in the European Championships in August with a win over the Netherlands in a rain-shortned game. They again missed key players for some games in this tournament though, and thanks to their loss against Ireland, finished second in the tournament.

Throughout 2006 and into the early part of 2007, Scotland participated in the Intercontinental Cup. In May, they beat Namibia, and drew against Ireland in August. They also drew against the UAE in January 2007 and did not reach the final. In late 2006, they travelled to Bangladesh for their first ODI series outside the UK, losing both matches against Bangladesh.

2007

In January 2007, after the Intercontinental Cup match against the UAE in Sharjah, they travelled to Kenya, first playing in a tri-series against Canada and Kenya in Mombasa, which they finished second in. This was followed by Division One of the World Cricket League in Nairobi, where Scotland finished as runners up.

They then travelled to the West Indies for their second World Cup. They again lost all their games and failed to progress beyond the first round. Back in the UK, they competed in the Friends Provident Trophy, their only win coming against Lancashire. They also drew an Intercontinental Cup match against the UAE and an ODI against Pakistan in July was washed out.

In July, Scotland took part in a quadrangular series in Ireland against the hosts, the Netherlands and the West Indies. However, the endeavour was not a success. They lost their matches against Ireland and the West Indies with the match against the Netherlands being abandoned due to rain.

At the beginning of August, Scotland were on Intercontinental Cup duty as they won against the Netherlands by an innings and 59 runs. They then drew with Ireland in a rain affected match, only gaining 3 points however after a poor 1st innings display. India were Scotland's next ODI opponents in mid-August, which was shown live on BBC Scotland from Titwood, Glasgow. The match was reduced slightly to 46 overs after a couple of brief showers, but India won by 7 wickets.

Having reached the final of the World Cricket League earlier in the year, Scotland qualified to play in the Twenty20 World Championship held in South Africa. They lost by 51 runs to Pakistan in their first game, and did not get a chance to play their other Group D opponents India, as the game was washed out without a ball being bowled.

Tournament History

World Cup (ODI) World Cup Qualifier (ICC Trophy) (One day, List A from 2005) Twenty20 World Championship (T20) Commonwealth Games (List A)

  • 1975 to 1992: Not eligible - Not an ICC member
  • 1996: Not eligible - Not an ICC member at time of qualification.
  • 1999: First round
  • 2003: Did not qualify
  • 2007: First round

  • 1979 to 1994: Not eligible - Not an ICC member
  • 1997: 3rd place
  • 2001: 4th place
  • 2005: Won

ICC 6 Nations Challenge ICC Intercontinental Cup (FC) World Cricket League (ODI) (formally ICC 6 Nations Challenge) European Championship (OD/ODI)‡ Friends Provident Trophy (List A)

  • 2000: 6th place
  • 2002: Did not participate
  • 2004: Runners up

  • 1996: 5th place
  • 1998: 3rd place
  • 2000: 3rd place (Division One)
  • 2002: Division One runners up
  • 2004: 4th place (Division One)
  • 2006: Division One runners up

  • 2007: North Conference - 10th
  • 2006: North Conference - 8th
  • 2005: Round 1
  • 2004: Round 2
  • 2003: Round 3
  • 2002: Round 3

‡ Only the matches between Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands in the 2006 tournament have official ODI status.

2008 and beyond

Scotland will play a further 4 matches in the 2007-08 ICC Intercontinental Cup, which are still to be scheduled for 2008. They will take part in the English domestic cricket one day (50 overs) league once again, the Friends Provident Trophy, where they will play 10 matches home and away in the North Division.

In July, Scotland played a tri-series against New Zealand and Ireland in Aberdeen, Scotland. Scotland beat Ireland but lost their match against New Zealand.

In early August, Scotland are due to participate in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This is the associate qualification tournament for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya and the Netherlands are the other teams due to participate.

On August 18th, Scotland will have their first ODI encounter against England. Hosting the Auld Enemy, at the Grange Cricket Club in Edinburgh.

In their attempt to qualify for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Scotland will travel to the UAE in April 2009 to compete in the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier.

Current Squad

Scotland's squad for the ODI quadrangular tournament in Belfast and Dublin is as follows:

Records

One-day International

ICC Trophy

Most ODI runs for Scotland

Player Runs Average
Ryan Watson 697 34.85
Gavin Hamilton 649 34.15
Neil McCallum 465 23.25
Fraser Watts 430 23.88
Majid Haq 376 22.11

Most ODI wickets for Scotland

Player Wickets Average
John Blain 27 33.77
Craig Wright 24 23.95
Majid Haq 24 27.79
Paul Hoffman 16 34.62
Dougie Brown 15 40.93

See also

References



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Last updated on Monday July 14, 2008 at 12:21:40 PDT (GMT -0700)
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