Outgoing Scotland cricket coach Shane Burger hopes his final tour in Nepal sees some of the squad’s youngsters get their opportunity.
Scotland top World Cricket League 2 and have already booked their place in the final World Cup qualifier, ahead of their game against Namibia in the early hours of Wednesday.
The Scots can guarantee top spot with two victories, against the hosts or Namibia, meaning the other contests could allow Burger to give chances to Tom Mackintosh and Jack Jarvis, who are awaiting their senior debuts.
“We know we’ve got a job to do and we want to win four games out of four. That’s always the goal,” said Burger. “But we also know that one or two victories will guarantee us top spot.
“From there that might present one or two opportunities to play some of the younger names.
“We took Tom Mackintosh on our last trip to Namibia – unfortunately he never got on the park when we would have liked to have given him a game.
“We’ve selected Jack Jarvis for the squad and that’s down to the work he’s put in. His work ethic is phenomenal, he’s a coach’s dream, a real sponge. He takes on information really well and I’ve no doubt he’s going to be a fantastic player moving forward.
“Even the likes of Liam Naylor and Brandon McMullen – and we saw what he did on the last trip.
“So in terms of younger players, it’s in a good place and we’re hoping to provide opportunity.
“But the other thing as we know is that you don’t just hand out caps. Players have to earn the right to play in our starting 11.
“Those who are in possession of a role are always reluctant to relinquish it. Healthy competition within a squad is always good.”
After the conclusion of the tour, Burger will head to English county Somerset for a coaching role.
He feels he has left Scotland in a healthy place for his successor to take over, with an increasing pool of talent available.
“The biggest thing for me has been the performances of the players at the highest level, but, perhaps more importantly for Scottish cricket moving forward, it’s been seeing the next generation of talent that is coming through,” said Burger.
“We’ve been trying to blood them in the last few series and give them opportunities where we could.
“It’s been great to see them put in the performances that we always knew they were capable of.”
The game starts at 3.15am UK time and is available on ICC TV.
Scotland face Nepal on Friday and Tuesday, with their other game against Namibia sandwiched in between on Monday.
Conversation