SCOTLAND were poised for a convincing victory last night in their Inter-Continental Cup tie in Bermuda, having set their hosts an improbable target of 373 for victory after declaring at lunch on a rain-interrupted third day. The Bermudans, who were all out for 106 in their initial stint at the crease, found it no easier upon their return, the first ever official One Day International on the island providing little joy when they were reduced to 112-4 by the time the heavens opened once more.
It provided redemption for stand-in captain Fraser Watts, a week after he was dropped for the ODI with New Zealand due to his dwindling returns with the bat. The Carlton opener – who will hope for a similar performance when his side travel to Toronto
to face Canada this week – contributed a formidable 93 towards a first innings tally of 282, and added another 83 in the second as the Saltires built on their overnight score of 84-3 to reach 196-9 before sending their hosts back into the fray.
"Fraser batted really well," said Scotland coach Pete Steindl. "It was really tight from him out there with some nice shots. Overall. It's gone really well and hopefully the weather will stay clear for us to finish off strong."
With Neil McCallum unbeaten on 42 and Colin Smith adding 38, Watts set his sights on completing a triumph with a day to spare and his spinners did everything possible to befuddle the Bermudans. Majid Haq and Ross Lyons, returning to duty after extended absences from the Scotland side, held them in check after opening strike pair Gordon Goudie and Dewald Nel had begun the assault. Goudie tempted Oronde Bascome to edge to Neil McCallum in the slips before Nel trapped James Celestine. And although Stephen Outerbridge put up some resistance with a brave half-century, either side of tea, Lyons turned the screw, OJ Pitcher removed LBW and Jekon Edness clipping into the gloves of Colin Smith without adding to the Bermudan tally.
Reeling on 65-4, it was left to Outerbridge to steer his side towards some modicum of respectability, just three weeks before these two teams square off again in Belfast in the group stages of the World Twenty20 qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Dougie Brown last night backed calls for much of the additional £250,000's worth of funding to be provided by the International Cricket Council to their Scottish brethren from next year to be utilised to enable more of the Saltires players of the present and future to dedicate their daily toil to the game rather than attempting to juggle the notion of amateurism with an increasingly full-time schedule.
Wearing dual hats, that of a Scotland international (not yet past tense, he hopes) and that of his role as the chairman of the Professional Cricketers Association, the Warwickshire veteran insists that to do otherwise would risk Scotland being left behind on both the domestic and international fronts.
"It has to progress, especially for the younger guys who want to make this a career," argues Brown. "But it will take more work on things like the commercial side. The ICC funding is an important factor. But it isn't the only thing. I know Cricket Scotland has done a lot of work on bringing new sponsors on board and putting a better structure in place. It's been a good progression. But if you look at where the counties are at, there's a real gap still there."
The PCA, Brown included, have battled hard to give their membership the same degree of perks enjoyed by their footballing counterparts. Scotland's in-house union representative, Dougie Lockhart, has taken advice in the past and will doubtless do so again when talks begin on a new agreement between the Saltires players and their 'employers' at Ravelston to replace the current one which expires next month.
Contracts, insurance policies and education programmes are just three of the issues that must be on the table, Brown outlines. "All are things that the PCA has got involved in over the last decade. We've come a long way in England in making the playing set-up more professional. Hopefully that kind of thing can be embraced as well in Scotland."
The full article contains 717 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
