For Michael Leask, there are plenty of reasons to be positive heading into an important year for Scottish cricket.
Scotland rounded off 2022 on a high, winning three out of four games on their tour to Namibia to seal their spot at the final qualifier for the 50-over World Cup next summer.
New faces came to the fore, with Chris McBride and Brandon McMullen staking their claim for regular places in the side.
“We were probably not at our best – we could have won four from four and really put it to bed.
“But if you said to us before we’d get three from four and we’d be guaranteed qualification, you’re going to take it.
“Chris (McBride) has had a handful of opportunities and took his chance. He played really nicely.
“What can you say about Brandon. He was knocking on the door – he went to the World Cup – and he took his opportunity fabulously.
“He bowled and batted above his years. He’s only 23 and played like one of the more mature members (of the squad).
“Did I expect that impact? To be honest, yes. He’s a very good cricketer. He’s got a lot of good things ahead of him.
“He showed he’s got the temperament for it, which at a young age to show you can win games shows a lot of character.”
It came on the back of a disappointing T20 World Cup for the Scots. After beating West Indies in their opening game, they suffered defeats against Ireland and Zimbabwe to prevent a repeat of their Super 12 appearance last year.
“We’ve had a decent year,” added Leask. “We’ve only had a handful of defeats in the World Cricket League.
“I would say we’re a little bit disappointed with the T20 World Cup, having beaten the West Indies and not to have qualified from there.
“We’ve played some really good 50-over cricket, but I still don’t think we’ve been at our best.”
Gutted doesn’t come close we played some great cricket just wasn’t enough, can’t thank the supporters who travelled and back home we gave us amazing support, we will be back stronger @CricketScotland pic.twitter.com/6CylZ91B17
— michael leask (@leasky29) October 24, 2022
World Cup qualification a difficult but exciting challenge
Minds are now focused on the next phase of 50-over qualification. Scotland are already through to the final qualifier in the summer, but face a final preliminary round of games against Namibia and Nepal in February.
The last step could be the hardest. Scotland will be one of 10 teams vying for two available spots at the World Cup; they will be joined by three from Sri Lanka, South Africa, Ireland or the West Indies. Netherlands and qualifier hosts Zimbabwe are already there and four more associate nations will complete the group.
Scotland have not been to a 50-over World Cup since 2015, with Leask part of the squad seven years ago in Australia and New Zealand.
“It could be (difficult),” added Leask. “We’ve got to look at positively – we’ve now shown we can beat these full members and we can do it again.
“It’s now building towards that and hopefully we get a few more fixtures before that. Hopefully we get a good run going into and give a good account of ourselves.
“The 50-over World Cup is one of the biggest events. The T20 is a shortened version but you saw from the 50-over one in England, it’s a massive spectacle.
“It’s a different format and I think the 50-over World Cup is a great chance for our guys to go showcase themselves again.
“That 2015 tournament was a bit of an eye-opener but hopefully we can get there again.
“I think you’re going to have to beat both (Sri Lanka and South Africa) to qualify. If you look at the last qualification model, you play your group and then the ones that qualify from the other group.
“You’re going to have to play the big boys to get through. You’re going to have to play the likes of Ireland, Holland and Zimbabwe.
“We know how tough associate cricket is but stepping up and trying to beat the big boys is going to be tough as well.”
Much-needed steps taken to grow the game in Scotland
A tumultuous year for Cricket Scotland has brought about some building blocks for change.
The independent review into racism, which found the governing body to be institutionally racist, has forced the organisation to take steps towards a better, more inclusive, future.
A partnership with the South Asian Cricket Academy has been forged, to provide a greater platform for players from diverse backgrounds.
Cricket Scotland also announced last month that for the first time, women’s international players would be on paid contracts from 2023.
“The steps are there now and the processes in place to hopefully lead us to success,” said Leask.
“The women have worked really hard (to get fully paid contracts) and the South Asian Academy is now set up. It’s all going to benefit cricket in Scotland, as the more people we can get playing the game the better.
“For me personally, I have more been focused on the field. We obviously know what’s going on but our job is to play as well.
“It’s been more about keeping the best performances on the field we can and the people whose job it is to deal with the off-the-field things, to let them deal with it.
“It’s not been a great situation to be in and we have to work on that as a collective.”
Another opportunity to progress the Scottish game could come by looking south of the border.
Scotland previously fielded a team in limited-overs cricket in the English county system and new Cricket Scotland chief executive Anjan Luthra is keen to try it again.
“The more cricket we can get the better it’s going to be,” said Leask. “If we’re playing against English counties again – we saw what happened when we played them before and a lot of the guys are still playing today.
“You’ve got some of the best players in England – just look at England’s white-ball game at the moment, it’s phenomenal.
“If we can play against the next crop of English cricketers, it’s going to benefit us in the long run.”
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