Bowled over: Gavin Hamilton's Saltires have failed to realise their potential in recent years. Pic: ©SNS Group
Five years ago, it seemed as if Scottish cricket was on a heady path towards gaining widespread acceptance and preaching to the unconverted. Craig Wright’s men swept all before them at the ICC Trophy competition in Dublin, an outcome which guaranteed the Scots their place at the 2007 World Cup.
The fashion in which such individuals as Wright, Ryan Watson, Dougie Brown, Gavin Hamilton and Paul Hoffmann swept past their rivals suggested that they were some distance ahead of the other associates. Understandably, therefore, as the Saltires prepare to launch their Pro 40 campaign against Leicestershire at Grace Road this Sunday, there is a fair amount of soul-searching and head-scratching going on amongst the sport’s cognoscenti north of the Border.
Since 2007, when the national team’s World Cup party was rudely interrupted by Australia and South Africa – which was expected – and by the Netherlands – which wasn’t – cricket has hit the rocks in Scotland.
A string of coaches have come and gone, while one senior player, John Blain, did a Kris Boyd by walking out on his country, on the eve of last summer’s World Twenty20 tournament in England. The Scots failed dismally to qualify for next year’s World Cup, barely managing to retain their one-day-international status in the process, as the prelude to crashing out of contention for the ongoing pyjamarama in the Caribbean, whilst Ireland and Afghanistan secured their places with the likes of England and Australia.
If these failings were due to a lack of interest, or a dearth of talent, they would be forgivable. But they are not. Instead – and it seems to be a problem with many of our team sports – too many of those who gain early plaudits appear to think they can stop working and start basking in the glare of publicity.
Granted, it hardly helps that several of Scotland’s leading luminaries, including Wright, Hoffmann and wicket-keeper, Colin Smith, bowed out at almost the same time, whilst talented professionals such as Kyle Coetzer, Calum MacLeod and Dewald Nel now ply their trade in England, restricting their availability.
Yet, part of the wider malaise lies in the absence of any obvious long-term vision for cricket in these parts, a deficiency for which the governing body, Cricket Scotland, must be held responsible.
Just to illustrate that fact, the Irish are missing from the Pro 40 participants this season, having decided to go down the route of pursuing Test status, at least in the limited-overs format. Our Celtic cousins recognise that this won’t materialise overnight, but, equally, they appreciate that there is no sustainable future in collecting a pittance from the counties every year, even as these same organisations cherry-pick the best personnel to emerge from Erin.
Nor does it inspire one with confidence to discover that there will be no relegation from this year’s Scottish National Cricket League – the cork-and-willow equivalent of the SPL – and that the competition will be expanded to include 16 teams in the so-called Premier Division in 2011. Frankly, anybody who imagines that there are sufficient quality players to fill six teams, let alone 16, in Scotland at the moment, is dwelling in a fool’s paradise.
None the less, the coach, captain and chairman of selectors, Peter Steindl, Gavin Hamilton and Iain Kennedy, have to work with the tools at their disposal and that triumvirate have mercifully swept away some of the dead wood in picking their squad for the tussle with Leicester, which will be broadcast live on satellite television.
There are two uncapped youngsters, Freddie Coleman and Neil Laidlaw, in the ranks, along with a clutch of relatively inexperienced individuals such as Omer Hussain, Marc Petrie, Matthew Parker and Gordon Goudie.
Given the scale of the re-building programme, the Scots will be heavily reliant on the stalwart duo, Hamilton and Watson – even if the latter has recently lost the swaggering bravado which saw him crash a century in 43 deliveries to beat Somerset back in 2003 – and their Australian professional recruit, George Bailey, who enjoyed a terrific winter in his homeland.
But at least, one detects a new ruthlessness in the peremptory fashion with which under-achievers, Fraser Watts and Jan Stander, have been, however temporarily, consigned to the wilderness. Watts, in particular has produced more cameos than Hamilton & Inches without converting pretty 20s into the sort of scores which can make the difference between troubling the counties and providing them with routine practice.
The new priority for Scotland is to nurture tough-as-teak characters who genuinely desire to follow in Eoin Morgan’s footsteps and play for England. Precious few of these aspirants will make it, but if they possess the right blend of technique, talent and temperament, it can only assist in helping turn round the current situation, because a cosy complacency has crept in at the highest level.
The danger for the Saltires is that, whereas they are entering the competition cold, the counties have already cranked through the gears and have been involved in championship and Pro 40 action for nearly a month. That will not make the job of Hamilton’s personnel any easier, even though Leicestershire are, by common consent, amongst the weakest opponents in England.
It’s 20 years ago this week since Scotland first defeated a county on away soil at Northants. Perhaps that is an omen for the Sabbath. Let us hope so.
