After an ultimately heart breaking end to Scotland’s ICC Cricket World Cup campaign, there were still plenty of positives to take from the tournament as the team continue to make waves on and off the pitch.
Scotland’s captain Kyle Coetzer and Safyaan Sharif have both been named in the Team of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2018 after some fantastic individual displays.
Coetzer led from the front with eye-catching innings against Nepal, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe and Ireland to lead his team unbeaten through the Group stages of the competition.
Both were also named in ESPN Cricinfo’s team of the tournament.
During the tournament Coetzer also became Scotland’s highest ever run-scorer passing Ryan Watson’s total and be the first player to pass 5,000 runs for his country. He was also awarded his 150th cap during the tour as he led his team with distinction throughout the tour.
The latest ICC ODI Player Rankings were also released following the conclusion of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, with Coetzer the highest ranked batsman from the competing sides in 22nd position.
Sharif finished joint-second top wicket taker of the tournament, claiming 15 wickets at 14.40, his delivery to dismiss Chris Gayle was one of the top videos during the tournament.
Richie Berrington also became Scotland’s leading capped player during the tournament – reaching 213 appearances for his country.
Calum MacLeod achieved second place in the tournament run scoring charts, with 288 runs coming from his 6 innings. There is little doubt as to which was the pick of his standout performance with a 157* against eventual winners Afghanistan helping his team to a 7 wicket win in Bulawayo.
Plenty of fans were won off the pitch too, with record social media numbers across the tournament and enjoyed plenty of support for all their matches in Bulawayo and Harare.
On the back of the tour Head Coach Grant Bradburn said, “Zimbabwe was a wonderful but brutal experience that will live on with the players and staff. A bitterly cruel finish to a fantastic campaign, it was a tough one to take with qualification to the World Cup so close, but yet so far. As always the coaches focus now shifts on to a few things that we could have done better on game days, however we also accept the 2-3 major influences on the results, that were out of our control.
We bring home some amazing learnings to now instil into our National programme and above all we are very proud of the progress this team and the players have made. The players have adopted an intelligent, bold and brave style of play, designed to win against top opposition, not just compete. Despite now being unsure of our ability to play many fixtures in 2018, this team are determined to continue working hard and progress skills towards being recognised with Full Membership in the near future.”
The team will now take the month off to recharge the batteries before coming together in early May in preparation for the visits of England and Pakistan in June.
