The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Work needed to make Scots fit to co-host cup
Scotland cricket captain Kyle Coetzer has led from the front in promoting the game in this country – most notably in this year’s T20 World Cup.
While the spotlight shone on the Saltires in Oman and the United Arab Emirates, Coetzer wasted no chance to flag up the potential to develop the sport in Scotland.
His call for “bold and brave” ideas from the governing bodies received its first answer this week, with the announcement that Scotland will co-host the T20 World Cup in 2030 alongside England and Ireland.
However, Coetzer believes there are some significant steps Scottish cricket needs to take before then.
Finding the Saltires their own home – or building a new one – would be a big step forward.
Their current base is at Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh, where they train indoors during the winter, while they have used Heriot’s home ground Goldenacre during the summer.
The Grange in Edinburgh is their primary home ground for competitive matches, while Mannofield in Aberdeen hosted the opening round of fixtures for the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 in 2019.
Coetzer said: “We’ve just been playing against the world’s best and, no disrespect to where we’ve used, but we’re training on a school second team’s field which is uncovered.
“The school do a fantastic job for us but it’s time to start thinking bigger, thinking forward and how we can move things on to the next level.
“If we’re turning up to play against India in one of these world events, we want to be preparing as best as we possibly can.
“Although it’s done the job for us now, we need to be thinking bigger. We can’t be leaving a school second team ground to go and play against the world’s best. The gap is just too great for us to improve.”
As with any ambitious project such as this, finance is going to be paramount. That would likely involve sporting bodies within Scotland coming forward to help make it a reality.
“We need to be practising with more support around us,” added Coetzer. “That means staff, whether that be in-house or on the field. We need to have better pitches; the better the pitches are, the more it encourages bowlers and batters to be better.
“If we want to compete against the best we need to have some of this. There’s no point being scared now. We’ve got this opportunity and we need to make the most of it.
“We probably need some support from wherever that can come from in Scotland. Not to name any names but we probably need that support to make this happen.”
Qualifying for the Super 12 in the World Cup was probably the biggest watershed moment Scottish cricket has had for many a year, more so than the memorable six-run win over England in 2018.
What it did was guarantee Scotland fixtures against high-level opposition, something which is lacking in associate cricket.
For Coetzer, capitalising on this exposure is paramount and gaining co-hosting rights for 2030 – no venues have yet been confirmed – feels like a positive start.
“It’s pretty special news, in terms of thinking ahead and planning for the future,” said Coetzer, who grew up playing for Stoneywood-Dyce in Aberdeen.
“It’s organisation– changing really, an event like that which can give us a push in the right direction following all the good media and coverage we’ve had recently.
“It’s something we need to help push us on.
“I know there’s plenty of time between now and then – there’s plenty of events between now and then where hopefully we can play our part in as many as possible.
“It’s something we need to make sure we dive into head-first. We need to do it right and do it well.”
Coetzer, who was named associate cricketer of the decade last year, sees himself remaining in the game when his playing career finishes.
When there are going to be more opportunities to showcase Scottish cricket to the world, few could blame for the 37-year-old for keeping the flame burning for the game he loves.
“It’s going to be an exciting journey to get there,” he added.
“One thing that’s hugely vital for us is we have to keep looking to improve and develop our A-team structure.
“The organisation does as much as it can but to find strength in depth in the playing group, we have to improve that structure.”