Scotland captain plays on with his club side Benwell

EVEN at 36 years old, Kyle Coetzer’s enthusiasm for cricket remains undiminished. While no international action now looks likely for the entirety of 2020, the Scotland captain has been keeping himself occupied by turning out for his club, Benwell Hill.

Two months of domestic cricket in the north-east of England have helped ease the frustration of seeing Scotland’s jam-packed calendar for the year entirely wiped out, including a spot at the postponed T20 World Cup.

The hope is that Cricket Scotland will find a way to deliver a set of overseas winter fixtures to try to play catch-up ahead of a busy 2021 that ought to see some of the leading nations returning to Edinburgh for a sequence of glamour one-day matches ahead of that rescheduled World Cup – now set to take place in India rather than Australia – next October.

For the time being, however, Coetzer will make the most of the dwindling English summer simply doing what he loves.

“I’m going to be gutted actually when the season comes to an end,” he admitted. “We’ve all just got going again and it’s going to be cut short. But we’re all grateful just to have had the chance to play at all this year.

“I didn’t expect us to bowl a ball and thought we’d miss the entire season. So it was really nice to get out there. We obviously still had to be careful and manage all the regulations but we’ve had seven weeks of cricket and that’s been great.

“Initially it was a bit odd but the weather down here has been decent which has allowed for social distancing outside. And I’ve quite enjoyed taking our own lunches. You tend to eat a lot healthier without all the teas and cakes! It’s been a breath of fresh air in many ways.”

You tend to eat healthier without tea and cakes!