Long road to the World Cup starts in Aberdeen

Captainkylecoetzerhopes Scotland can battle their way through to the next World Cup following the frustration of missing out on this summer’s event.

The Scots begin the long road to India 2023 today in Aberdeen when they take on Oman in their first match of a three-team series that also includes Papua New Guinea.

With the one-day international World Cup now reduced from 14 to 10 teams, Scotland narrowly fell short last time around and had to watch on as neighbours England triumphed on home soil. It will be just as tough to reach the next one, with Shane Burger’s men having to pass through two qualifying stages – the last including some of the world’s elite sides – to try to claim one of just two available spots.

But Coetzer is confident Scotland are in good shape to make a challenge. He said: “It’s quite a long process to reach the next World Cup but it starts here against Oman and we’re looking forward to it.

“There’s no harm in looking at the bigger picture and what might lie ahead. Everyone here is ambitious and wants to see Scotland involved in the biggest competitions again including the World Cup.

“It was frustrating that we weren’t at the most recent one. I thought I’d got over it a while ago but, when the tournament started, you got some flashbacks, especially of us beating England just the summer before. It wasn’t nice missing out, so we’ll be doing all we can to make it to the next one.

“We know now we have 36 one-day internationals over the next two or three years, so you would hope the best side comes out on top. We’re confident that we will fare well throughout the competition.”

Scotland haven’t played since their rain-affected double-header with Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in May and Coetzer added: “Those matches seem a long time ago now, so it’s great just to be back training with the guys and preparing for some important fixtures.”