Burger is relishing the chance to flip Scotland’s standing on the big stage
The roles will be reversed for the Scotland cricket team this week when they head to the T20 World Cup Qualifier as one of the favourites.
And head coach Shane Burger wants his players to live up to that expectation by winning the tournament to reach next year’s Finals in Australia.
The Scots are always underdogs whenever they take on Test-playing sides such as Australia, England or India.
But they start the 14-team tournament in Dubai against the likes of Singapore, Netherlands and Papa New Guinea as No. 1 seeds.
And their South African coach expects them to deal with that pressure to emerge as champions.
Burger said: “We’ve set our sights on doing really well in this tournament. Anything less than winning it would be deemed to be below the standards we’re setting for ourselves. That’s something we’ve drilled in to the players.
“But I don’t have to say too much as the group we have with us put that expectation on themselves. I don’t have to push it as they know they should be going to a tournament like this and winning it.
“Given what the team has done over the last few years, there is now an expectation that a Scottish team won’t just compete but will win.
“There will be a bit of extra pressure as the highest-ranked team in the tournament to do well. But we will have to play good cricket and stay on top of our game if we are to achieve that.”
Cricket Scotland’s longterm goal is to be the next country welcomed into full membership of the ICC (International Cricket Council). That would guarantee them regular games against the bigger nations including England and reaching the World Cup would be a major step in making that happen.
Burger explained: “If we want to become a full member we have to be playing against the leading nations more often.
“We’ve shown previously we can beat full member sides and we need to continue to do that.
“A tournament like this will give us another chance to prove to the cricketing world that we’re not just here to compete but we’re here to stay.
“We have some really good players in the squad who might not still be playing by the time Scotland becomes a full member but who want to help deliver that legacy.”