Burger takes Scotland reins

Cricket: South African ‘delighted and honoured’ after taking charge of side

Scottish cricket has appointed Shane Burger as their new national coach.

The South African, who has an impressive reputation in the provincial game in his homeland, takes over from Grant Bradburn and will be determined to build on the momentum he created.

As coach of KwaZuluNatal, he led the team to three trophies and was awarded CSA coach of the year in 2015-16 and 2017-18.

Prior to moving into coaching, he had a 14year professional playing career in South Africa and participated in 91 first-class and 79 List A matches as an all-rounder for Gauteng Lions and KwaZulu-Natal.

He also spent 12 seasons as overseas player and director of coaching at Radlett Cricket Club in Hertfordshire.

Burger said: “I am delighted and honoured to be awarded this position as head coach of Scotland.

“The opportunity to work with players who have already shown they can compete with the best is an exciting challenge.

“Grant did a fantastic job and it will be my goal to move Scottish cricket to new heights on and off the field.”

Cricket Scotland’s chief executive Malcolm Cannon said: “Shane impressed the selection panel, not only with his skills and experience but also his passion for the role, his leadership capabilities and people management skills.

“So we very much look forward to welcoming him on board. The appointment follows an extensive recruitment process and the selection panel was impressed by the number and quality of applicants from seven different countries.

“We are looking to build on notable successes against four different full members in the last 18 months, including the historic first ODI win against England last June.

“We believe that Shane has the skills, energy and ambition to continue that momentum and enable further progress to be made towards our strategic goal of achieving ICC full member status.

Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer welcomed the appointment as his team prepare for the trip to Oman next month.

“Shane has skills and ambition to continue that momentum”

The Aberdonian said: ”I spoke with the players yesterday and we are all looking forward to Shane’s appointment.

“Shane joins us at an exciting time with our 2019 fixtures having been given a big boost by securing two full member nations, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, to our shores in the summer.

“Most importantly, these ODIs will be of high quality and will help us continue our development in this format of the game, leading up to us beginning our ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 campaign later in the summer.”

He will

March.

Elsewhere, start the

arole in century from captain Virat Kohli helped India beat Australia by six wickets in the second one-day international in Adelaide.

Kohli made 104 from 112 balls and MS Dhoni finished unbeaten on 55 as the visitors reached their victory target of 299 with four balls remaining to set up a series decider in Melbourne on Friday.

The West Indies, meanwhile, have recalled batsman Darren Bravo for the first Test against England, as well as adding uncapped pair John Campbell and Shamarh Brooks.

Bravo, 29, played the last of his 49 Tests in November 2016 and has been handed the chance to kickstart a once-promising career interrupted by disputes with the Cricket West Indies Board.

The three-match series gets under way in Barbados on January 23.

NEW HEIGHTS: Shane Burger praised predecessor Grant Bradburn and said he wanted to build on his legacy