Burger says Scotland squad is relishing return to training
It is fair to assume that Scotland cricket men’s head coach Shane Burger, his backroom staff and all the players will have a spring in their step when they meet up in Edinburgh today to start a training block.
After a period of furlough which ended last week, for the next six weeks the 12 contracted players and other squad members who are pushing for national team recognition will be training together under the guidance of Burger and his assistant coach Craig Wright.
The big event of the year for the men's squad is set to be the T20 World Cup in India which begins in October, but there will be plenty of competitive action before then should restrictions continue to ease.
“We are all just really excited to get back together again,” Burger said.
“For myself personally, well I was back home in South Africa for a spell and then I had to quarantine down in
London for a period, so to be back in Edinburgh and have cricket available to us is brilliant.
“Over the last few months since we were last able to train together there have been lots of Zoom calls to make sure that we are all ready for what should be a busy 2021.
“They have been useful, but nothing beats actually being together and moving forward face-to-face as a group.
“When World Cricket League 2 and other fixtures are firmed up for later in the summer they will come thick and fast so we have to be focused from this week onwards on what is to come so that we can hit the ground running.
“I know that all of the guys have been working ever so hard on their fitness in their own time in recent months while the time off has also allowed them to step back from cricket and reassess where they are at in their careers.
“When we last played a competitive match in December 2019 I had a hungry group of players who always wanted to get better and that will still be the case now, in fact even more so, given the amount of time out of the game we have had to endure.”