Safyan Sharif says Scotland’s cricketers are desperate to get back to the 50-over World Cup again.
Scotland missed out on qualification for the 2019 tournament in England and last competed eight years ago in Australia.
They start their final World Cricket League 2 tri-series on Wednesday, against Nepal and hosts Namibia, with their place in this summer’s final World Cup qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe already secured.
Five of the current squad played in 2015 – Sharif, captain Richie Berrington and Aberdonians Michael Leask, Matthew Cross and Kyle Coetzer.
Scotland have played at the last three T20 World Cups and will host the European qualifier for the 2024 tournament.
But a place at the 50-over tournament has eluded them – and they hope to seal their return.
“We’d all love to play in a 50-over World Cup again if we could make it through. We want to get back to that big stage,” said Sharif. “But it’s going to be a very tough tournament compared to the one we had in 2018, also in Zimbabwe.
“There are a lot of really strong teams in there this year. It’s going to be one helluva ride. We just have to compete the best we can and hopefully fulfil our potential.
“At the end of the day anyone can win a game of cricket. Things can turn a lot even in the space of one over.
“We’ll look to be aggressive and hopefully get to that World Cup in India. We’d love to be a part of that if we can.
“I’m lucky enough to have played in four World Cups so far in my career and I’d love to help some of the others get to experience a 50-over one, too, if we can, as it’s been a few years now since we played on that stage.
“We have to do the hard work in Zimbabwe to get rewarded.”
Scotland need two wins from the four tri-series contests in Nepal, in order to seal top spot in WCL 2.
They face Namibia on Wednesday and again five days later, with games against the home nation on Friday and the following Tuesday.
“It’s been a long and frustrating campaign,” added Sharif. “The year that Covid happened we had a lot of fixtures lined up and that all had to be postponed and moved back a year and sometimes longer. That meant we had a busy schedule last year.
“But it’s always good to play cricket. The more we play the better. We had so much cricket last year and we got into a good rhythm.
“If you’re a bowler you need to be bowling every day.
“It was tough at times too with all the travelling, but it was just something all the teams had to get through. We got used to it and found ways to cope.”
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