2022 was an important year for the Scotland men’s national team in cricket. They featured at the ICC T20 World Cup where the highlight was their victory over the West Indies in the first round.
Unfortunately for Scotland, that 42-run success against the West Indies was not enough to progress through to the Super 12s in the competition in Australia, as they had to settle for third place in Group B. However, it was only their fourth victory over a full member of the ICC, so it will give them a lot of confidence going forward. They will be hoping to respond in the same way as they did when they beat England at the Grange in 2018.
Scotland begin 2023 with an ODI Tri-Series against Namibia and Nepal, taking place in Nepal in February. It is a series Scotland will believe they can win, as they are two places higher than Namibia and seven places above Nepal in the ICC ODI rankings.
Namibia and Nepal are teams Scotland will be very familiar with. They faced them both during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2. After beating Namibia in their first match, they then suffered a three-wicket defeat to the same opponents.
The former T20 Tri-Nations Trophy winners proved too strong for Nepal in both games back in December. They won the first contest by three wickets, with 107 balls remaining. The margin was even wider in the second contest, as Scotland lost just two wickets when they chased Nepal’s target of 119.
Cricket World Cup Qualification
The main goal for Scotland in 2023 will be to qualify for the Cricket World Cup in India, which begins in October. They took a step closer to that tournament with a qualification from the Cricket World Cup League 2.
Scotland began their Cricket World Cup League 2 campaign in August 2019. They have won 22 of their opening 32 matches in that competition, which leaves them top of the standings with 46 points, with a net run rate of 0.638.
The top three teams from the standings in that competition make it through to the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualifier, and Scotland cannot mathematically miss out on one of those spots now.
The Cricket World Cup qualifier will feature 10 teams in Zimbabwe from 18 June to 9 July. It will include the bottom five teams from the World Cup Super League, the top three teams from the Cricket World Cup League 2 and two teams from the 2023 World Cup Qualifier Play-Off. Zimbabwe are expected to be one of those teams, and Scotland will be hoping to replicate the success they had against them in 2021.
Scotland need to finish in one of the top two places at the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualifier. They have featured at three World Cup tournaments so far in their history. They qualified in 1999 (in England), 2007 (in the West Indies) and 2015 (in Australia and New Zealand). They failed to win a game at either of those three events, which means their World Cup finals record is 0-14 going into this year.
Franchise Leagues
As well as a big year in international cricket, some of Scotland’s leading players will be hoping to feature in the leading franchise cricket leagues in 2023. Those represent a great opportunity to pick up some experience against the leading players in the world.
More franchise leagues are being added to the cricket calendar all the time. The year has begun with the inaugural SA20, a T20 competition in South Africa. England captain Jos Buttler, former West Indies Test captain Jason Holder and Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan are all involved in that event. As of the 21st of January, the Pretoria Capitals are the 9/4 favourites in the cricket betting to win the trophy in that tournament. Their roster includes Ireland’s Josh Little as one of their overseas players.
Pace bowler Brad Wheel was bought by the London Spirit in the 2022 edition of The Hundred. The Scotland international helped his team finish in third place in the competition in England. He will be hoping to return to the white-ball competition later this year as they bid to go two places better this time.
No Scottish players have been drafted into the IPL in 2023 where the Gujarat Titans are the defending champions in the T20 event. However, if injuries occur to players involved in that event, some will be hoping to get a late call into the premier domestic competition in the world.
If Scotland continue to take big strides forward in 2023 as a national team, their case for becoming a full member of the ICC will grow stronger, which is the ambition of Cricket Scotland.
