Scotland ‘after a little bit of blood’ in Australia rematch

September 4, 2024
9:41 am

Scotland pushed Australia hard at the T20 World Cup earlier this year – a victory would have dumped England out of the tournament – and have genuine belief they can go a step further in the three-match ODI series in Edinburgh.

After Brandon McMullen’s 60 off 34 balls, the equation got down to Australia needing 87 off 39 deliveries and there was a realistic chance of an upset before Marcus Stoinis carried the game away from them. Having been 90 for 0 against England when the match was abandoned, it was an agonizing difference between the Super Eight and going home.

Three games in four days with home advantage, and against an Australia side with some less experienced names, gives Scotland the chance to secure a first victory over them – and they aren’t just targeting one win.

“I think we’re after a little bit of blood this week, and not just win a game but win the series”, left-arm spinner Mark Watt told the Cricket Scotland website. “We can definitely take inspiration from that game in St Lucia, but we also have a little bit of a point to prove, as we all believe we should have won that game and kicked on further in the World Cup. We can say we got close, but actually in the back of our heads we’re disappointed that we didn’t win.”

All 15 players who were at the T20 World Cup are part of the squad for this series, but one new name for the Australians who were there will be pace bowler Charlie Cassell who burst onto the international scene with the best figures on ODI debut when he took 7 for 21 against Oman.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to share the field with world-class players,” Scotland head coach Doug Watson said when the squad was announced. “They’re wanting to put in some huge performances and compete, and really push this Australia team. The goal for us is to win this series. The first game is really important – if we can win that, it’ll set up the next two matches.”

Scotland have been the beneficiary of Ireland being unable to host Australia as originally scheduled due to financial constraints. Australia last played a bilateral match against them in 2013 when Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh combined for a first-wicket stand of 246. Current captain Richie Berrington was part of the Scotland side.

In 2018, Scotland had one of their most famous days when they beat England by six runs at Edinburgh but opportunities against the leading nations outside of global events are few and far between and they are desperate for more.

“It is frustrating we don’t get the opportunities to play the big boys, so to speak,” Michael Leask told BBC Scotland. “Even the likes of Bangladesh and West Indies, we don’t get opportunities to play against them. And we would take any opportunity, because the more high quality cricket we get, the better we get.

“We would love them to come and play us more often but we understand sometimes it is not feasible. We want any fixture we can get against the big boys, but they have got a heavy schedule. This is our opportunity. It would be nice if the higher associates got more exposure. We punch above our weight a lot of the time and that is down to the quality of the group we’ve got.”