Andy Tennant last night welcomed the ICC’s decision to offer a Test-playing chance to Scotland.
Cricket’s governing body announced at the weekend the winners of the next Intercontinental Cup will play the lowest-ranked Full Member for the right to participate in cricket’s blue riband format.
Tennant, Scotland’s head of performance, believes the news is another major boost for the game in this country, coming just days after the Scots qualified for next year’s World Cup.
Tennant said: “Test cricket is still seen as the pinnacle of the sport and to have the chance to play on that stage is fantastic.
“Our guys – the established ones and young players coming through the system – can look at this news and know they have a realistic chance of playing Test matches in four years. It’s an exciting development.”
Scotland won the inaugural I-Cup in 2004 and have since reached one final and were third in the most recent tournament.
Ireland have won it four times with Afghanistan the only other country to lift the ICC’s flagship four-day competition for non-Test countries.
Tennant added: “We have a decent record in multi-day cricket but now we have a real incentive to improve our skills in this format of the game.”