Scotland wicket-keeper Matthew Cross reckons they are capable of achieving something special at next month’s T20 World Cup.
Cross, who was also selected for the 2016 tournament, believes they are capable of advancing from the group stages to face the world’s best.
There is a healthy representation from the north of Scotland in Shane Burger’s 17-man preliminary squad, announced last week.
Fellow Aberdonians Kyle Coetzer – the Scotland captain – and Michael Leask are also named, as well as Granite City-born Josh Davey.
Incredibly proud to be taking this fantastic group to the WC! Hard work and dedication are the foundation of this unit! #proud @CricketScotland https://t.co/zS21K4XvOk
— Shane Burger (@Shane9Burger) September 9, 2021
A final squad of 15 will be named on October 10. Scotland face Bangladesh on October 17, Papua New Guinea two days later and Oman on October 21. All of their group games will be played at the Al Amerat Cricket Stadium in Muscat, Oman.
There are two groups of four, with the top two in each group advancing to the Super 12 where they will face the top eight ICC nations: India, Afghanistan, Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies. All matches will then be played in the United Arab Emirates.
“Last time there was only one spot so it was going to be a tough ask,” said Cross, who started his career with Aberdeenshire. “It’s good they’ve opened it up so more teams can qualify.
“There’s no expectation we’re going to walk-over any side and we need to hit the ground running once we get into the tournament. If we do that, we’re confident not many teams are going to be able to beat that.
“We’ve beaten both Oman and PNG – we’ve played them in a lot of 50-over stuff recently. Bangladesh are a strong team and just beat New Zealand but given our strengths, we have an opportunity to take them down as well.
“We’ve had qualifiers in similar conditions in Dubai and Oman, so we know what we’re expecting. We’ve covered areas we need to do well in, in hot conditions, and we feel like we’re able to do something special.”
It is the start of a busy period for the Scotland national team. They play the first of three T20s against Zimbabwe on Wednesday in Edinburgh, with Davey dropping out of the squad for those games due to county commitments with Somerset. Nairn seam-bowler Adrian Neill has been included in that squad.
Scotland also face Oman and Papua New Guinea in four 50-over 2023 World Cup qualifiers – as part of the Cricket World Cup League 2 – prior to the T20 World Cup getting underway. Coetzer, Cross and Leask will take part in those games.
“I guess it means there’ll be no surprises (in the World Cup),” added Cross. “We know they’ve got a lot of dangerous cricketers and we have to be at it to beat them.”
The Scotland management team have been boosted by the addition of former England test regular Jonathan Trott, who will act as a batting consultant during the tournament.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Cross. “He’s been working in areas of the England setup and The Hundred recently and it’s a different level of experience.
“We saw the impact Paul Collingwood coming in gave us. It’s not only bringing his own ideas but he was taken aback by what a talented group we have here. I hope he (Trott) sees the same.
“It’s awesome when these guys can come in and help us for these big competitions. I’m sure he will fit into the group easily and these guys have always brought something different to the table.”
Off the field Cross made a pretty significant move, relocating from London to Edinburgh to ensure he remained in Burger’s thoughts.
It has been a successful domestic as he won the Eastern Premier League with Heriots and Cricket Scotland’s regional series with the Western Warriors.
“I wanted to give everything to my Scotland career and it wasn’t easy living in London,” he added. “It worked for a period but it wasn’t easy with all the travelling.
“I didn’t want to be ‘out of sight, out of mind’. Joining Heriots was good for me as I pretty much knew everyone through regional and junior Scotland setups.
“It was a bit disappointing I couldn’t play for Aberdeenshire, given where the club are now, but I live in Edinburgh now and it’s an awesome city.”