By Neto Baptiste
A 15-member senior Scotland cricket team arrived in Antigua and Barbuda on Sunday for a preparatory camp as they get ready for the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe set to take place in June.
The contingent, consisting 14 players and National Performance Coach, Tobin “Toby” Bailey, arrived at the VC Bird International Airport yesterday afternoon under the auspices of the Cool & Smooth T20, and will host sessions at both the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and the Liberta Sports Club facility during their two-week camp.
Speaking with Observer media on arrival, Bailey credited the relationship between the Cool & Smooth T20 Explosion and Cricket Scotland for the initiative.
“It’s Cool & Smooth; it’s that relationship we’ve created with Dario and it’s very similar conditions to what we are going to be playing under in Zimbabwe and similar pitches so although we have been there before and a lot of the players have been to Zimbabwe before and a few of the newer players haven’t so it’s perfect preparation for that with the pitches so that’s another massive advantage,” he said.
In addition to the camp, eight of the team’s players will play in the Cool & Smooth T20 Explosion with each competing local clubs allowed to draft one Scottish player.
Bailey welcomed the opportunity for the selected players to get what he said will be some much needed game time under their belt.
“What we lack in Scotland is fixtures so having fixtures against quality opposition, putting the players under pressure all of the time because we’ve very good trainers but we need to be put under pressure more on the pitch so for those eight, it’s just a fantastic opportunity. I’ve heard so much about it, I’ve seen it streamed last year so it’s going to be very beneficial for them,” the coach said.
Bailey welcomed the opportunity to camp in Antigua, adding that the tour is a fantastic opportunity for his players to gain much-needed experience.
“It’s very much a mix of trying to get the players back into things with this pre-season camp. We can’t do much in Scotland at the moment because it is really cold but it’s pretty obvious that we brought a new group of players here so we’ve got players who are experienced but also, some talented players who are just coming through. It is important that we try to blend those players together so we could bring them through to play into that World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Scotland captain Richie Berrington will enter the Cool & Smooth T20 Explosion draft alongside vice-captain Matthew Cross, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Hamza Tahir, Liam Naylor and Oliver Davidson.
Also involved will be George Munsey, who returns to Antigua for his second consecutive season with the Jennings Tigers; his international teammates will each be selected by one of the other seven clubs in the competition.