The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Angus basketball star will represent Scotland on the Gold Coast.
COMMONWEALTH: Former Arbroath High School pupil in Scotland squad
Former Arbroath High School pupil Gareth Murray will make a bit of Commonwealth Games history when he becomes the first Scottish basketball player to take part in two Games.
Murray, who was yesterday confirmed in the squad that will head to Australia in the spring, hopes his younger teammates will gain as much from representing their country at such a high profile event as he did in the same country 12 years ago.
“I definitely got inspired by the experience and it helped me to play at the next level,” said the former Arbroath Musketeer clubman.
“It was my first time with the Scottish senior team and I then went to play professionally for 13 years as well as playing for Great Britain in Eurobasket, so it was a lot of experience gained.”
Murray, now a regular starter for the Glasgow Rocks and GB sides, believes he is a much better player and knows that a lot more is expected of him this time.
He said: “To be fair there’s a lot more expected in our group with four or five (including Stirling’s Kieron Achara and Falkirk’s Ali Fraser) who have been playing professionally on a weekly basis.
“But there’s also seven or eight going to their first big tournament and hopefully it will help to motivate them for their future careers.”
Murray still keeps in touch with his former Arbroath High coach John Grant and also John Anton who was the Scotland coach when he went with the Scotland team to win the under-16 European Promotion Cup in Malta in 2000.
Basketball hasn’t been part of the Commonwealth games since Melbourne in 2006.
The team will get their Commonwealth campaign under way in Townsville on April 5 with a crucial game against England before facing Cameroon and India in their other Pool B games.
Meanwhile, in Table Tennis, Perth’s Gavin Rumgay returns to Team Scotland for a fourth Commonwealth Games, having taken a record-equalling 12th Scottish Championship Singles title in 2017.
Rumgay is joined by Craig Howieson, making his third Games appearance and 23-year-old Colin Dalgleish, who represented Great Britain at the 2017 World University Games and will make his Team Scotland debut in Gold Coast.
Each will play in the singles and team event, with a doubles pairing still to be finalised.
Richard Yule, Table Tennis Scotland chief operating officer, said: “The table tennis community in Scotland will be delighted to know that Gavin, Craig and Colin have been selected to join Team Scotland for the Games in Australia. Congratulations and best wishes for a successful Games to all three players, who I know will be great ambassadors for Scotland in the Gold Coast.”