The Scottish team have a wonderful little ritual on every tour. It involves the person making their first overseas trip out with the group having to sing a song. On Thursday (June 13) night, it was the turn of the media manager to take the stage, and he did it wonderfully well. His choice of song was Caledonia, the very popular ballad from Dougie MacLean, which has become an anthem for Scottish pride over the years. And so good was his rendition that the entire beachside restaurant they were in (and we happened to be in as well) fell silent. You could see the emotions on the faces of the Scottish players while also sensing their togetherness as a unit.
In all likelihood, Richie Berrington & Co. will be making an early exit from this T20 World Cup, unless of course they pull off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport by beating the Australians, who have never lost to an Associate nation in this format. But having been there to witness their lovely tradition play out by Reduit Beach in St Lucia, you couldn’t help but feel for Scotland, who despite having been one of the most-improved Associate teams, are likely to be eliminated in the first round itself, yet again. Even if they are yet to lose a match as they prepare to take on Australia at the Daren Sammy Cricket Stadium in St Lucia.
All the talk in the lead-up to this game has been about the impact it could have on England’s qualification for the Super 8s. And though Jos Buttler’s team seem safe enough now, having done all the right things with big wins over Oman and Namibia in spite of the rain threat, there were many who had pre-emptively started bemoaning the fact that the defending champions might have missed out based purely because they lost a single match. It’s a fate that is likely to befall the poor Scots later this evening here. As seasoned all-rounder Michael Leask spoke on the eve of the match, it was clear to see just how together this team are, and what it means for them to be even here in the Caribbean for this world event.
“Whenever you pull on the badge – even just sitting here now – you don’t get to do it too often as an Associate cricket, it’s extra special. You are away from home, we don’t do it very often so it is different when you’re away for big events,” he said.
When asked about the emotional get-together from two nights ago, Leask added, “The other night – we have a tradition as a team where someone sings a song if it’s your first tour, it doesn’t matter if you’re the media manager. The media manager got up there the other night and sung beautifully in the restaurant. It’s something that holds this group in good stead because it brings a smile to people’s faces – regardless of whether it’s your first tour, as a player or a coach, it’s something we’ve done. It’s a little bit of fun.”
Leask revealed to have gone with, “I Believe I Can Fly” on his first tour with the Scottish team some 12 years ago in South Africa. A lot has changed in the dozen years since Leask made his debut. Not in the least, the kind of support that his team receives from people back home. To the extent that, the size of the touring support group has grown by many multiples. Just between the last World Cup in Australia to this one, the Scottish fans have gone from 6 in all at Hobart in 2022 to nearly 70 this time around.
“That’s what’s humbling. It’s incredibly humbling for us. I know quite a few Scottish fans who made the trip. Even just friends of player, they’ve made the sacrifice to come over for two or three weeks which is incredibly humbling for us as cricketers, it shows how far we’ve come on this journey,” said Leask.
“I know when I first started, we’d have a pocket of fans who knew we were definitely underdogs. Every game at this World Cup so far we’ve had times when we’re right on top of the fixture. The England game got cut short – it would have been a hell of an occasion that. I don’t see tomorrow being any different. And why can’t we go and do what we did to England and cause a bit of an upset.”
And why not. He is right in saying that Scotland probably looked the better team, even if the match only lasted all of 10 overs, against England in Barbados. Or at least on par, and there’s no guarantee that England were favourites to chase down the 109 they needed in their 10-over allocation. And Leask is not one to give up on his team’s dream of moving forward to the next round, which will also leave them topping the table remarkably, with the double delight of getting to knock England out.
“We’re still going to have to play our best cricket. Australia we know have a wonderful squad. From 1-15 in that squad is firepower. They’ve all played IPL, they’ve all played everywhere. On any given day they will dominate sides, so we know 1-15 as well in our side, we have match winners. That’s what makes it exciting for us Scotsman. We know we have match winners as well and it might take two or three of us to come off on the day rather than one Australian, it might take two or three of us, but we see that capability within our side.”
If they do, there will be quite the celebration and many more renditions of Caledonia as the Scots light up St. Lucia tonight. If not, please do them a favour and spare them a thought, maybe even better if you have Caledonia playing in the background.
