ICC and ECC offer high performance assistance to Scottish Cricket

The International Cricket Council and the European Cricket Council today announced that they will contribute to a grant of £50,000 to the Scottish Cricket Union to help fund its participation in the National Cricket League Division Two.

Scotland is one of the top ranked ICC Associate Members and only narrowly failed to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 having played in the 1999 event in England.

The invitation to play in the domestic one-day league is an exceptional opportunity for an Associate Member country to receive extensive exposure to top class cricket. The ICC and the ECC were consequently very keen to ensure that the Scotland team was able to take up this offer from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

ICC Development Manager Andrew Eade explained: "For the Associate Member countries to develop, they need to have regular exposure to competitive cricket.

"Both the ICC and the ECC recognise the importance of this opportunity to the development of Scottish cricket and we are pleased to be able to offer them High Performance funding to ensure their participation."

The grant now guarantees Scotland's involvement in the National Cricket League this season and their campaign will begin with an away fixture against Durham at the Riverside on Sunday 4th May.

Euan McIntyre, Operations Director of the SCU said: "We are delighted that the ICC and ECC have been able to help us finance our participation in the National League. It provides a unique opportunity for our cricketers to test themselves against some of the top players in the world and is a crucial step as we seek to improve the standard of our national team."

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