The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
North-east trio get nod for Scotland
Scotland have included a strong north-east contingent in their squad for the Cricket World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe next month.
Former Aberdeenshire players Matthew Cross and Adrian Neill are included along with ex-StoneywoodDyce man Michael Leask.
The Saltires are one of 10 teams that will be competing for two spots at the 50-over World Cup in India in October and November.
Interim Scotland head coach Doug Watson is pleased with the group at his disposal.
He said: “I think there’s a good mixture in this squad of youth and senior players who’ve been around a while – the likes of Richie (Berrington) and George (Munsey), as well as some exciting young talent in Jack Jarvis and Chris McBride.
“It’s obviously a wonderful opportunity coming up in Zimbabwe and the guys that we’ve selected are all really excited and fizzing to go.
“They know how tough the challenge is going to be.
“It’s moving into winter over there just now, and the conditions are changing, and will be quite spin-friendly, but the key thing will be for us to adapt to the conditions and approach the games the way we want to play them.
“The main thing is we’ve got four weeks to prepare so we’ll slowly lift the intensity levels each week and make sure the guys are clear in the roles they’re going to be playing.”
Watson has also added new backroom staff for the qualifier with Glenn Pocknall joining as bowling coach, Graeme Beghin recruited as batting and fielding coach and Gavin Cross joining the tour as physiotherapist.
Scotland will fly to Pretoria in South Africa on June 2 for a pre-qualifier training camp and warm-up games against Nepal and the Netherlands before travelling to Zimbawe for the start of
the tournament on June 18. The Scots will face West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Netherlands, Nepal, Oman, United States and United Arab Emirates as they bid to reach the 50over World Cup for the first time since 2015.
South African Watson is taking charge of his first competitive camp as interim head coach, having taken over from fellow
countryman Shane Burger earlier this year.
Burger, who left for a coaching role with English county Somerset, led Scotland to the Super 12 stage of the t20 World Cup in 2021, as well as topping the group in World Cup League 2.
Watson had a spell with the squad in Antigua last month, on a pretournament training camp.
However, eight Scotland players were also involved in the Cool and Smooth T20, a short-form competition in Antigua.
“It was excellent – it was very busy with a lot of games and the boys were in different teams playing a lot of cricket,” said Watson, who has previous coaching experience with Namibia, the Mumbai Indians and New Zealand.
“It was a good time getting to know them as a group.
“Just being part of different teams and different ways of training and playing – it was highly beneficial.”
The Scotland squad for the World Cup qualifier: Richie Berrington (captain), Matthew Cross, Alasdair Evans, Chris Greaves, Jack Jarvis, Michael Leask, Tom Mackintosh, Chris McBride, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Adrian Neill, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Hamza Tahir, Mark Watt.