| Cricket in Scotland | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cricket atGoldenacre in Edinburgh, withEdinburgh Castle as a backdrop | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Governing body | Cricket Scotland |
| National team(s) | Scotland |
Club competitions | |
International competitions | |
Cricket has a considerably lower profile in Scotland than it has in neighbouring England. Scotland is not one of the twelve leading cricketing nations which playTest matches, but theScottish national team is now allowed to play fullOne Day Internationals even outside theCricket World Cup, in which Scotland competed in 1999, 2007, and 2015. Scotland has a well established recreational cricket structure. In 2016 it was estimated that around 17,000 people play cricket in Scotland.[1] At international level, Scotland is ranked as one of the highest 'associate' (non Test) teams, and has historic rivalries both with its neighbouringfull membersEngland andIreland, and fellow high rankedassociate,Netherlands.
Cricket in Scotland is at least 225 years old. The first match for which records are available was played in September 1785 at Schaw Park,Alloa. The game was more generally introduced to Scotland by English soldiers garrisoned in the country in the years following theJacobite rising led byBonnie Prince Charlie in 1745; and it is no coincidence that the oldest known club is Kelso (records date back to 1820), in the Borders, then a garrison town. The origins of cricket in Perth, where cricket was also played at a very early stage, was also for the same reason.
In other areas, including the Borders of Scotland, the game seems to have been introduced by immigrant English workers in the paper, textile and iron industries, while in Edinburgh the game was taken up in the mid nineteenth century by the main Schools in the area, most prominently initially by theRoyal High School &Edinburgh Academy.
The first representative game of any standing was in 1849, when the All England XI came to Edinburgh to play a 22-man team representing Scotland. This match provoked great interest and similar visits followed over the next few years, representative games also being played in other Cities & Towns. Scotland matches played on an eleven a side basis date from 1865, against a total of more than 30 countries, including all the Test-playing nations, and numerous other select teams, including, of course, the MCC. But the development of Scotland's international standing was more-or-less ignored for the best part of the 20th century, with three-day matches against Ireland, MCC, touring Test teams and the occasional County side being the only ones granted 'first-class' status.
In 1980, Scotland was invited to take part in England'sBenson and Hedges Cup andNatWest Trophy one-day competitions. In a further development, Scotland resigned from membership of theUK Cricket Council in 1992, effectively severing links with England in the cricketing sense, and in 1994 was elected to Associate Membership of theInternational Cricket Council (ICC). This gave Scotland its own voice in world cricket and the national team took part for the first time in theICC Trophy held in Kuala Lumpur in March/April 1997. Third place qualified Scotland for theICC World Cup in 1999 hosted by England, and Scotland themselves hosted two games (against New Zealand & Bangladesh) atThe Grange Club in Edinburgh.
Although failing to qualify for the2003 World Cup, Scotland made significant inroads in professionalising the game in Scotland. The first part of this was Scotland's acceptance into the EnglishSunday League competition in 2003, for a period of three years. This involved playing a minimum of 18 matches of top class cricket against the English counties, giving both players and administrators the level of experience necessary for Scotland's progress toOne-Day International status.
In a halcyon period for the Scotland International side, they won the inaugural (three-day)ICC Intercontinental Cup in November 2004, and then the2005 ICC Trophy in Dublin by beating old rivals Ireland, putting the Scots into 12th place in the global rankings. This gave Scotland qualification for the2007 World Cup in the West Indies. Placed in the hardest Group, no successes were achieved in the Tournament and there was further disappointment at not achieving qualification for the2011 World Cup.
The International teams then entered a transitional phase, with the retiral of several key players from the previous few years. It was 2011 before Scotland emerged with a fully competitive team, most notably winning four consecutive One Day Internationals against Afghanistan, Netherlands (twice) and Ireland. Following defeat by Sri Lanka, they continued a successful path by beating Northamptonshire and Warwickshire on consecutive days in theCB40 Competition.[2]
The governing body for Scottish cricket isCricket Scotland, which administers women's cricket and junior cricket as well as the men's game.
The then Scottish Cricket Union resigned from the UK Cricket Council in 1992, effectively severing links with the organisation of cricket inEngland andWales. In 1994 Scotland became an Associate Member of theInternational Cricket Council.[3]
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TheScottish men's team competed in theCricket World Cup in1999.[4] It lost all five of its matches[4] and was eliminated in the preliminary round. Scotland failed to qualify for the2003 World Cup[5] but qualified for the2007 event in the West Indies.[6] Scotland won the qualifying tournament, the ICC Trophy, in Ireland in 2005. Scotland playedAustralia,South Africa andthe Netherlands in the opening group stage in 2007. Most of the members of Scotland's national team are amateurs, although a few Scots have played professionally in English domestic cricket, and for theEngland national team, including former captainMike Denness.
In 2003, the Scottish team was granted a place in the English national one day cricket league in the hope that playing against professional cricketers on a regular basis would improve the performance level of the best Scottish cricketers.
TheScottish national team qualified for the20072009,2016,2021 and2022 T20 World Cup tournaments, qualifying for the main round for the first time at the 2021 Tournament.
They have also qualified for theupcoming edition of the T20 World Cup which will be hosted byWest Indies and United States in June 2024.
Scotland has amateur cricket leagues held throughout the country which are run by five associations:
In addition to leagues ran by the 5 associations, there is also the Eastern Premier League, which is a combined top level 10 team league for sides fromEast of Scotland Cricket Association and theStrathmore & Perthshire Cricket Union.
TheRegional Pro Series was first launched in 2016 replacing theNorth Sea Pro Series a competition which was a joint venture between the Royal Dutch Cricket Board and Cricket Scotland. It is Scotland's premier domestic competition. The tournament consists of three teams; Western Warriors, Eastern Knights and Caledonian Highlanders. Each team is based in a different region of Scotland.[12]
The first season of theEuropean T20 league, a Twenty20 franchise-based tournament, was scheduled to start in August 2019.[13]
One of the most notable cricketers in history was a Scot, born in India of Scottish parents,Douglas Jardine, the inventor of "Leg Theory". Jardine was born inBritish India, brought up inSt Andrews, spent most of his life in England, died in Switzerland and his ashes were scattered in Perthshire.[14] He gave his own children Scottish names.
A number of other prominentcricketers have come from Scotland, including the formerEngland captain,Mike Denness, Warwickshire all-rounderDougie Brown, and former England test playersGavin Hamilton andGregor MacGregor, who represented Scotland at rugby as well as England at cricket.[15]
Another notable Scottish cricketer wasBrian Hardie, who was a major contributor to the successfulEssex side of the 70's and 80's. One of the most successful Scottish spinners, and a respected journalist, wasIan Peebles,[16] who was one of the cricketers of the year in 1931 alongsideDonald Bradman.
R. C. Robertson-Glasgow played forOxford University andSomerset and later became a prominent cricket writer and correspondent. The South African-born former England captainTony Greig also qualified to play for England due to his Scottish parentage.[17]
Finally Scots have also played for other countries:Tom Campbell for South Africa[18] andArchie Jackson for Australia.[19]
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 England | |
 Guernsey | |
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 Isle of Man | |
 Scotland | |
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