Fortune could favour the brave
DECADES may pass before Scotland feel they have as strong an opportunity of beating England at cricket as they do in Christchurch tomorrow. They will not need any motivational speech from Paul Collingwood, who is part of their coaching team, to send them out brimming with hope.
The first hour or so will be crucial. If Scotland can unsettle what may be a slightly altered England side then the nerves that have been apparent in Australasia are bound to resurface. But if England make early inroads with the ball, or retain wickets with the bat, then the difference in class and experience ought to prevail.
Collingwood knows what it takes to succeed. He is the only man to have captained England to victory in an ICC event, the World Twenty20 in West Indies in 2010. He was also part of the backroom team last year when Scotland qualified for the World Cup. As a good omen, the final win came against Kenya at the same Hagley Oval ground where they now face England.
He was among the senior players who did not always see eye to eye with Peter Moores during the latter’s first stint in charge of England and suggested this week that his former head coach will be vulnerable this time if the side do not improve. ‘‘Things will have to change around quickly if he doesn’t want the pressure on his shoulders,’’ Collingwood said.
Such quotes are part and parcel of the build-up to ‘‘big’’ matches and can be taken with a pinch of salt. More pertinently, the presence of Collingwood in the Scotland camp means that he is taking media pressure off the players, who are less used to attention.
As many as nine of the Scotland squad have experience of English county cricket, including Kyle Coetzer, the former captain, and Matt Machan, the improving Sussex batsman who used to open the batting for England Under-18 with Jos Buttler. TIMES