DAWKINS TAKES HEART FROM WORLD CUP PERFORMANCES

Scotland Men's Head Coach Owen Dawkins feels proud of the efforts shown by the squad and staff during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, despite Saturday's defeat to England.

 

Having been handed a late invite into the tournament less than three weeks ago, Dawkins and the Scotland coaching staff and players had to swiftly pivot from pre-season training to tournament mode, whilst behind the scenes operational planning went into overdrive to ensure the squad reached India with enough preparation time.

 

 

Three matches in Kolkata saw a comprehensive victory over Italy countered by defeats to West Indies and to England, the latter in front of 50,000 spectators at Eden Gardens. Scotland now head to Mumbai to face Nepal on Tuesday evening, but require other results in Group C to fall in their favour if they are to progress to the Super Eights.

 

Despite this, Dawkins has relished the experience of his first tour as Head Coach, and sees great potential for the team to move forward with confidence from this experience in India.

 

"The start of our time together as a new coaching staff has been fantastic," said Dawkins. "The experience of a T20 World Cup in a country where everyone eats sleeps and breathes cricket has been amazing.

 

"For the players to play in front of 50,000 people yesterday was a wonderful opportunity and the support we have received from the Indian fans whilst in Kolkata has been pretty special. We’re really pleased with the progress we have made in such a short space of time and feel the lads have put on a good show of their potential in the three games to date.

 

 

"Equally, we put ourselves in positions where we could have beaten both West Indies and England. We had opportunities to get over the line and didn't manage to do it, proving that T20 cricket is always a game of fine margins.

 

"We've got one game left against Nepal in Mumbai, which should be a fabulous occasion again in front of their amazing supporters. Whatever happens on Tuesday and beyond, we will continue to work hard to give the players the opportunity to show off their talents, develop their cricket awareness and do Scotland proud."

 

Scotland face Nepal on Tuesday 17 February in Mumbai from 1330 GMT. You can follow all the action on Sky Sports and BBC Test Match Special.