Price of success may be high for Scots

Source: Rampant Lion     Date: June 22, 2003

Cricket: The counties have raised their game against the Scots and next they could steal their players. 

If I hadn't really got to know the Scottish players before travelling down to Somerset on the bus with them last weekend, then the journey demonstrated to me how passionate these lads are about cricket and fighting for their country.

It's just a pity the NCL match at Taunton went against us, once again by the slimmest of margins, but I have noticed that even since I made my debut at the beginning of the month the counties have been raising their games in recognition of what the Saltires have achieved in their first season at this level. We appreciate we will be offered nothing on a plate and will have to earn any good results through our own efforts and not the complacency of our opponents. Which is exactly as it should be, of course.

The defeat against Somerset was disappointing, mind you, because when you score 296 in 45 overs you have a good chance of defending that total. But while great credit is due to Ryan Watson and Jon Kent, both of whom batted excellently, and although I was obviously delighted to strike an unbeaten 120, the whole nature of one-day cricket has changed and teams are no longer afraid to attack from the first delivery.

In these circumstances, the Scottish bowlers have to learn how to increase the number of dot balls in their analyses, especially on such a flat track as at Taunton, where the small boundary meant that any player who got his eye in had to fancy his chances of scoring quickly.

What was galling, however, was that we managed to claw our way back into contention and, boosted by another fine spell from Majid Haq, definitely had the home team in trouble for a period, but couldn't quite finish them off. At 254 for seven and 290 for nine the outcome was in the melting pot, but we shouldn't forget that a lot of these English guys have been competing in these situations, week in, week out, for the last 10 years and that kind of experience can't be obtained overnight.

Of course, we all felt frustrated at the climax and I would have traded in my hundred for a victory, but I noticed enough positive things to believe the Scots will soon start getting on the right side of these close encounters.

The next tussle, with Middlesex in Richmond on Tuesday, was a different matter. We were beaten comprehensively, but I don't think we should suddenly switch from being gleeful to gloomy on the strength of one below-par display. The Saltires committed the cardinal sin of dropping catches early on and not bowling accurately after asking the opposition to bat, and we could not have any genuine complaints when they raced to 100 in 15 overs, from where it was always going to be an uphill struggle.

To his credit, Majid varied his pace beautifully, snapped up another three wickets to add to the trio against Somerset, and has emerged as a first-class player in the NCL within the space of a month, for which he deserves tremendous credit.

I suppose the only problem is that, for as long as the Saltires are still amateurs, without contracts in place, there is nothing to prevent the counties coming along and trying to recruit some of the Scottish squad and you couldn't blame them for doing so. In which light, the Scots' success is, to some extent, a double-edged sword.

But, remaining positive, it has to be a promising sign that somebody such as Watson has twice pummelled the Somerset bowlers (for 103 not out and 75) and that Majid has looked dangerous and captured wickets in nearly every match of the competition. Add to that the contributions of individuals such as Dougie Lockhart, Craig Wright, Paul Hoffman and Colin Smith, and you have the basis for a good squad of home-grown players who can keep learning throughout the remainder of the NCL campaign as the prelude to gearing their thoughts towards the World Cup qualifying tournament in 2005.

On a personal level, I have spent the last few days down in London, and will be taking some coaching sessions with Scotland's talented youngsters during the next fortnight, as well as prep-aring for three home matches (against Durham, Notts and Lancashire) at The Grange in the space of four days from July 6 to July 9, a schedule which we can hopefully turn into the equivalent of a mini tour, with the boys sticking together and building up momentum again.

People have asked whether I am feeling under any extra pressure whenever I walk out to the crease for Scotland, but my answer is straightforward. Ultimately, this summer is all about building up Scotland, not Rahul Dravid, and I have been a professional long enough to be 100% committed to any team with whom I am connected.

Naturally I was annoyed when I was given out lbw on Tuesday, but that had nothing to do with the umpire's decision and everything to do with my attitude to being dismissed, whether it be in a Test match or the NCL. Let's face it, no batsman ever thinks he's out, unless there are three broken stumps lying behind him, but my philosophy is you should never give your wicket away easily. The Saltires have been successful in following that lead until we collapsed to 36 for five at Richmond.

These things happen, particularly in the limited-overs game. The trick is to walk away having learned something from every match and Tony Judd is already in the process of pointing out that the Scots need to sharpen up their opening overs, hold their catches and put more pressure on opposing fielders. I'm confident they will heed his words.

The Saltires have played eight fixtures in the NCL, with three wins, four defeats and one no-result. Obviously, it would be fantastic to have a success rate above 50%, but these statistics should be sufficient to remind everybody that the Scots have punched above their weight and can do so again next month.