Scotland’s 2015 Cricket World Cup warm-up tour to Australia has started in extremely disappointing fashion; with two heavy defeats and a narrow win against state sides, Grant Bradburn’s side are in a dire position ahead of their campaign, and have already demonstrated the sheer gulf in class between full ICC members and Associates, an issue which must be addressed for the game to progress.
Their first game, a 186-run defeat to Tasmania, was a thrashing in every department. Upon winning the toss, captain Peter Mommsen asked the hosts to bat first; three hours later, he was left to look at a scoreboard which showed a 304-run target for the Scots. Admittedly, Jordan Silk (62), Ed Cowan (100) and Michael Hill (34*) all batted well, but only two bowlers took wickets for the Saltires, with Iain Wardlaw keeping his discipline (10-1-31-3) but Safyaan Sharif (10-1-77-1) demonstrating that he is a long way from being a first-change bowler at the World Cup. The response with the bat was dire. In 35.4 overs, the Associate nation mustered a pathetic 117 all out, with Freddie Coleman (28) the only batsman to put up any sort of defence against an inexperienced state attack.
The second game of the tour, again against Tasmania, was much more successful. Scoreboard pressure was too much for Tasmania, after Michael Cross’ 64* successfully built on foundations laid by Mommsen (25), Richie Berrington (30) and Hamish Gardiner (46). Michael Leask showed control with the ball to spark a late Tasmanian collapse to give Scotland a win.
But then, in the game against a Queensland Academy of Sport XI, the drab nature of Scotland’s performances returned. Faced with a 269-run target, after Nick Stevens and Ben McDermott’s partnership of 142, the side against collapse in a heap, Kyle Coetzer’s run-a-ball 55 and Coleman’s 51 contributing over half the team total of 175. Of course, this sort of margin of defeat would be expected against a good side, but only 5 of the opposition have played a game of first-class cricket in their careers. The 93-run defeat against an inexperienced sides will strike fear into the eyes of Scottish fans when they see a World Cup group including Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand and Australia. The other two sides, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, are not quite in the same calibre of teams, the latter also being an Associate nation, but both have the potential to embarrass the Scots.
In the remaining four games of the tour, against a New Zealand XI, Canterbury, and Invitational XI and Otago, Scotland simply must show the world that these two results were simply a blip rather than the norm; having leaked 49 extras in the three games, there looks to be a serious issue with regards to sloppiness. But, there will almost certainly be an associate victory at this World Cup, as there is in more or less every major ICC event. So, how far behind are the associates?
Ireland’s push to become a Test-playing nation has been well documented, and there is a chance that within a few years, they may be given a chance to appear in the greatest cricketing arena of all. Afghanistan are also up with them, with the two dominating associate events over the past few seasons. But, with sides such as the Netherlands, Scotland and the UAE all falling further away from them, it may be that an even bigger divide is created if Ireland and Afghanistan do get a chance to prove themselves against the ‘big guns’.
However, the World Cup may end up being a good chance for the ICC to address the gulf in quality between the sides. With a format involving two groups of seven teams, there is a high chance that multiple teams will go through the tournament without a win in any of their six games, which may help arrest the problem in declining associate standards.
As for the short term, Scotland need to address their issues quickly to avoid another Australia-esque mauling at the World Cup; in 2013, Aaron Finch and Shane Watson put on 246 for the first wicket as the Aussies made 362 in 50 overs in Edinburgh, before the Scots crumbled to Mitchell Johnson’s hostility for 162 all out. This sort of 200-run thrashing is something that all associates will be looking to avoid if they really want to be taken seriously.
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