It has been a rocky start to the Super 12s for Scotland, which lost to Afghanistan and Namibia to be on the brink of elimination at the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE.
However, Scotland cricket’s story is nothing short of inspirational. Scotland - 12th in the T20I rankings - arrived at the World Cup with one win from its previous six global tournaments - against Hong Kong in the 2016 World T20. It reached the main draw of the T20 World Cup for the first time with an eight-wicket win over Oman. By reaching the Super 12s , Scotland also made sure of an automatic spot at next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
Scotland coach Shane Burger speaks to Sportstar about his team’s journey to this World Cup, what it means for Scottish cricket and more.
Q. How was the reaction back home after Scotland qualified?
A. The support has been incredible. I am really happy that we, as a team, have made the country and all the fans proud of this cricket team. It took a few days to get through all the messages of support, and we appreciate the attention. But we also know we need to keep inspiring.
What made you click, and now with the pressure of expectations, how do you plan to cope?
The team has clicked for a while now and has been on an upward curve for three-four years. The pandemic halted the playing time but not the required preparation for this period. Expectation will always be there, and the standards and aspirations will always be high up on the agenda for Cricket Scotland. Every game is a must-win game, but we also have a responsibility to look into the future and make sure that the game remains healthy for generations to come.
Tell us more about Chris Greaves. He seems to be an absolutely exciting prospect.
Chris has been part of the setup for a while now, and we always knew that he would play a role at some stage. Fortunately for us and him, it has been on the world’s biggest stage, and he has shown that he has the skill and character to succeed at the highest level. He is, in many ways, a late maturer and has worked incredibly hard over the last 24 months to upskill himself in all departments. He was born and schooled in South Africa but has been in Scotland for a lengthy period and has now achieved his dream of representing Scotland.
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Before the start of the tournament, you had used the phrase “the Scotland way” of playing the game. Could you elaborate on that?
The Scotland way is to play a modern brand of cricket that can be adapted according to conditions and situations. We have belief in all the players and create environments where players can be themselves and work incredibly hard at all times. The players possess world-class skills that will need to be utilised to take on the best in the world.
If there’s one thing that Scotland, as a team, has gained perspective on in the last month, what would it be?
Unbelievable is not a word used any more for this unit. Everything is doable and believable!
Scotland had to cancel the Australia T20 fixture due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year. Considering you rarely get fixtures against Full Members, how disappointing was it?
Very disappointing but understandable as the world has been in a tough place over the last 24 months. It has been frustrating that the bigger teams have been able to keep playing in bubbles where we have had to cancel fixtures continuously. We have tried to use this to our advantage by training wisely and focusing on areas we can control.
What more can the ICC and other full members do to support and improve the cricket coming out of Scotland?
Provide platforms for more cricket, better cricket and the opportunity to build awareness around the game in Scotland. Facilities will need to keep being developed to provide the current and next-generation with the platform to develop and keep improving.
Will cricket becoming an Olympic sport help Scotland?
Anything that allows our players to play more competitive cricket on the world stage is a positive for us.
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