Scotland's Drinnen plays down “favourites” tag for ICC Intercontinental Cup clash with Namibia

Scotland coach Peter Drinnen has played down the suggestion his side are favourites for the opening Group A match in this year's ICC Intercontinental Cup, against Namibia in Aberdeen starting on Thursday.

The Scots, who won the inaugural first-class competition for non Test-playing Members in 2004, probably deserve the tag because of home advantage and the fact they are match-hardened after competitive cricket against English county sides.

They have played three one-day matches in the England & Wales Cricket Board's C & G Trophy and even recorded their first win on Sunday, albeit in a weather-shortened match against Worcestershire.

Namibia's build-up, by contrast, has lacked that match action because of rain back home but Drinnen is still loath to build up his side's chances too much.

"I wouldn't say we are favourites even though we got a win over the weekend," he said.

"We are starting to get things right in the one-day game but we haven't played a game of three- or four-day cricket in 12 months so it's difficult to make a judgment on that basis.

"Also we don't know a lot about Namibia and it's never a good idea to make a call about how we are all set to win when the opposition is an unknown quantity."

Scotland's victory against county opposition owed a great deal to their two Australian imports, batsman Corey Richards and all-rounder Ian Moran, but both are ineligible for this match.

And with former England all-rounder Gavin Hamilton unavailable because of work commitments and off-spinner Gregor Maiden missing because of a torn hamstring, the next few days are likely to test the depth of the Scotland squad.

"I hope we can cope," said Drinnen. "But we still have some local batsmen who have been scoring runs, like Douglas Lockhart, Fraser Watts and Ryan Watson, and Neil McCallum's inclusion is reward for excellent club and A team form.

"And just as important as our batting, when we won on Sunday our bowlers did well and our fielding was up to the standard we want it to be - it was a good team effort."

Namibia, who drew with Nepal in March's Challenge Match to reach this stage, are also without some key players with opener Jan-Berrie Burger at home with his pregnant wife and fellow batsman Louis Burger absent because of work commitments.

Their response has been to include four players who appeared in February's ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup - batsmen Dawid Botha, Henno Prinsloo and Louis van der Westhuizen and left-arm spinner Nicolaas Scholtz.

Also included are new caps Tobie Verwey, the back-up wicketkeeper and a middle-order batsman, and Gareth Cloete, a direct replacement for Louis Burger

And although these players' lack of experience may count against them, it is all part of a deliberate policy according to Namibia Cricket Board President Laurie Peters.

"This match and the next one that follows in Ireland (starting on 17 May) will probably determine our fate in the group," he said.

"But the long-term future of Namibia cricket is far more important than that and we are looking forward with 2009 in our sights (when the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament will take place in the United Arab Emirates).

"We are pretty confident of our team but even if we struggle it's good that the youngsters are being exposed and the proud thing we can boast is that every one of our players is Namibia-born and has come through our system."

Scotland could, of course, be forgiven for not focusing so heavily on this first-class competition given their one-day commitments not only in the C & G Trophy but also with their ODI fixture list over the next 12 months, culminating with a place in the ICC Cricket World Cup.

But coach Drinnen feels the ICC Intercontinental Cup is a crucial part of Associate players' learning curves.

"We are very privileged and very lucky to be involved, not just with this tournament but also with ODI status, the recent ICC Winter Training Camp and all the other things that are happening to take our cricket forward," he said.

"From my personal perspective I also welcome the expansion of the ICC Intercontinental Cup to more matches and four-day matches as it gives us the chance to use tactics and also improve the players' discipline and concentration.

"It is real, tough cricket with physical and mental fatigue a factor and we are looking to get a win under our belt if we can.

"An early win is definitely important to have, especially if weather plays a part later on in the campaign," he added.

The other sides in Group A are defending champions Ireland and the UAE, who reached last year's semi-final.

The other group comprises Bermuda, Canada, Kenya and the Netherlands with the latter two sides already having contested a drawn match in Nairobi.

The final, set to take place in early 2007, will be between the two group winners.

The new format means sides will play a minimum of three four-day matches in this tournament, increasing to seven four-day matches in 2007 and 2008 when it is hoped the event will be a full round-robin format.

That compares to a minimum of just two three-day matches per year under the previous structure which, until the semi-finals, was regionally-based rather than global.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup began in 2004 to give the leading players from Associate sides the chance to improve by exposing them to a longer form of the game.

Scotland (from): Craig Wright (captain), Kasim Farid, Gordon Goudie, Paul Hoffmann, Douglas Lockhart, Ross Lyons, Neil McCallum, Dewald Nel, Colin Smith (wicketkeeper), Ian Stanger, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts.

Namibia (from): Deon Kotze (captain), Dawid Botha, Kola Burger, Sarel Burger, Gareth Cloete, Hugo Ludik (wicketkeeper), Henno Prinsloo, Nicolaas Scholtz, Gerrie Snyman, Stefan Swanepoel, Louis van der Westhuizen, Ian van Zyl, Tobie Verwey.

Umpires: Niels Bagh & Charlie McElwee; match referee: David Jukes.

Full details of this year's ICC Intercontinental Cup can be found here: