ON THE RUN Budge: I just loved shock over English
Scotland new boy Dylan Budge admits he’s had a dream two weeks on the pitch with the highlight a stunning victory against England.
The 22-year-old batsman was named in the squad to take on the best 50-over side in the world at the Grange in Edinburgh this month because of a superb run of form.
Budge’s run-scoring period began at the end of last month when he hit 100 for club Mazars Grange against Carlton.
A bigger score of 143 followed two days later for the Eastern Knights before scores of 56, 52 and 65 for Scotland A.
He then hit 48 not out and 139 over two days for Grange to make him the in-form player in the country.
Having grown up in Bradford, Budge has been involved with counties such as Yorkshire and Durham and has been on Scotland’s radar since 2015.
His father was born in Edinburgh and Budge played two non- cap internationals against Sri Lanka last May.
Injury issues and a period of time while the ICC verified his eligibility followed but he made his ODI debut against England in the famous six-run victory in Edinburgh.
Since then he has helped them win the T20 Tri-Nations event in the Netherlands against the hosts and Ireland and been
Lewis Hamilton dominated final qualifying at the French Grand Prix to claim the 75th pole position of his career.
But while the British driver impressed in his Mercedes the crisis at his former team McLaren deepened.
Hamilton saw off teammate Valtteri Bottas by more than one tenth of a second at the Paul Ricard Circuit while Sebastian Vettel, whom he trails by one championship point, finished third and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth.
But Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne qualified 16th and 18th on another humiliating day for the failing McLaren team.
Hamilton is armed with a new Mercedes engine this
named in the MCC squad for matches in a star-studded line-up next month. Budge said: “I moved up to Scotland early last year with the aim of playing for the country. I have been in and around the extended squad for a while.
“But to make my debut in that England match which was just one of the best games of cricket I have played in or watched really was unreal.
“I grew up in Bradford but my dad always made sure I knew I was Scottish and it was great that him and my mum managed to make the trip up from
weekend and the defending champion made no mistake as he edged out Bottas with his final flying lap.
The 33-year-old was a third of a second clear of Vettel who had no answer for the Mercedes cars.
Hamilton said: “Qualifying is always tough but it feels great to be back in France.
“To be on the front row is a great showing for the team.”
Vettel said: “It’s difficult to get the right balance. I pushed too hard in the last lap and you end up losing time rather than gaining.”
McLaren’s already troubled season descended into chaos
Yorkshire for the game. Everything about the England clash just left me wanting to play more international cricket and more games at the top level.
“We showed on that day and in the T20 matches we can compete with the best in the world.
“What we need is more opportunities to do that but whoever we do play in the coming years it will take a lot to beat that England win.”
Scottish skipper Kyle Coetzer also paid tribute to the way Budge has settled into life on the international stage.
when a member of staff described the atmosphere at their Woking headquarters as “toxic” and branded the team’s hierarchy as “clueless”.
He revealed staff are rewarded with chocolate bars for their gruelling work.
The team’s racing director Eric Boullier insists he will not resign but the decision could soon be taken out of his hands following another abject display.
Alonso and Vandoorne were dumped out of qualifying at the first hurdle, ending up a full three seconds slower than Hamilton.
It marked McLaren’s worst qualifying display of the season – and far from improving they are falling back down the grid.
Only Williams, another of Britain’s former giants, ensured the McLaren cars will not occupy the final row for today’s race with Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll 19th and 20th.
Alonso is out of contract at the end of the season and it’s hard to see why he would want to continue.
Rookie Charles Leclerc, 20, continues to impress. The Monaco-born driver hauled his Sauber into Q3 and will start eighth.
The error-prone Romain Grosjean crashed out after his Haas slid across the track and into the barriers.
Coetzer, who hit 24 against the Dutch, said: “Dylan is a quality player. He has been around the group for a while and played in the friendlies against Sri Lanka last year so he knew what to expect.
“To make his debut against England was a big moment for him .
“But he he handled it really well and it’s good for me as the captain to see young, hungry cricketers coming through the system.
“He is also a very good fielder which you have to be in white ball cricket. He can go from strength to strength.”