Cricket: Scotland beat the Auld Enemy

It was only supposed to be a gentle warm-up for England’s one-day international (ODI) side, said Elizabeth Ammon in The Times. They arrived in Edinburgh top of the world rankings, after six successive series wins; Scotland, by contrast, are ranked 13th and have failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup. But on Sunday, the Scots confounded all expectations to win by six runs, pulling off “the most extraordinary victory” – their first over England. They hit 53 boundaries en route to their 371, their highest total in an ODI match; Calum Macleod scored an unbeaten 140. It was surely the greatest moment in the history of Scottish cricket. The conditions were perfect for the batsmen, said Nick Hoult in The Daily Telegraph. The boundaries were unusually short, in order to accommodate the TV cameras and extra seating. And Macleod seized his opportunity, reaching his century in only 70 balls. “He swept brilliantly against the spinners and was inventive against the seamers.” Scotland’s impressive performance “sends a message” to the International Cricket Council (ICC), said Mike Atherton in The Times. At the very time when sides from smaller countries (which typically don’t play Test cricket) are “growing ever stronger”, the ICC has decided to reduce the number of teams at the next World Cup from 14 to ten. On this evidence, Scotland – and other nations like it – deserve a place at the table.

For England, meanwhile, this loss was a “reality check”, said Paul Newman in the Daily Mail. True, they were playing without Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes, two of their best players. But their bowling was “toothless”. For the first time in an ODI, four different England bowlers conceded more than 70 runs apiece: seam and spin alike provided “little threat and no mystery”.