Undercooked
For Scotland, the tournament will amount to little more than experience at the highest level. The gulf between them and the Full Member sides is just too large. By Will Luke
![]() |
![]()
|
The good news is that Dougie Brown, their most experienced player, is back. The bad news is he has only played two club games since his Achilles injury in July. He alone can't carry the team, especially against the naturally aggressive batsmen that both Pakistan and India possess. However their captain, Ryan Watson, has spoken boldly of their chances and reckons Scotland have won "90 per cent of games in the last few years which have been reduced to 25 overs or less".
![]() ![]() |
Brown is their strength, if only for his exposure to Twenty20 in county cricket. But due to his injury he is unlikely to bowl too much, which will further weaken Scotland's attack. Likewise Gavin Hamilton, 32, will give the squad some lower-order nous, and Scotland's fielding is impressively watertight for an Associate.
Scotland have never played a Twenty20. Adding to that rather significant hamstring: the team haven't trained together for a month as they all have full-time jobs. Watson is a powerful striker of the ball, but their batting lacks the frenetic urgency required to post challenging totals.
Ryan Watson Soft-spoken off the pitch; solid, powerful and combative out in the middle. His game is the most balanced of Scotland's line-up. In 21 ODIs he has made three fifties and a top-score of 123.
Scotland As Ireland proved with their defeat of Pakistan in the World Cup, anything's possible in the shortened game. The odd questionable lbw decision; a dropped catch here and a flurry of sixes there, and who knows?
Will Luke is a staff writer on Cricinfo