The Scotland men's national cricket team represents the country of Scotland in international cricket and is administered by Cricket Scotland. They compete in international competitions organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), including the Cricket World Cup and the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. They play most of their home matches at The Grange, Edinburgh, as well as at other venues around Scotland.
Scotland's history in cricket dates back to the 18th century, and during the 19th and 20th centuries they frequently played touring teams and counties. In 1992, the Scottish Cricket Union severed links with the English Test and County Cricket Board and in 1994 they became Associate Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC).Scotland at CricketArchive The Scottish Cricket Union changed its name to Cricket Scotland in 2001.
Scotland have played in three ODI World Cups (1999, 2007 and 2015) and five T20 World Cup tournaments (2007, 2009, 2016, 2021 and 2022). However, their first win in either of these events did not come until they beat Hong Kong in the 2016 T20 World Cup. Scotland have played in every ICC Intercontinental Cup tournament, winning the inaugural edition in 2004. In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Scotland and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 are a full T20I.
History Before ICC Membership The first recorded cricket match in Scotland took place in Alloa in 1785.A History of Cricket in Scotland at the official Cricket Scotland website It would be another eighty years, however, before Scotland's national side played their first full match, against the English county Surrey in 1865, which they won by 172 runs. The first Scottish Cricket Union was formed in 1879, and the national team beat Australia by 7 wickets three years later. The cricket union became defunct in 1883, and Grange Cricket Club took over the administration of the game until 1909. The first match against Ireland took place in Dublin in 1888, with Ireland winning.
Scotland played their first match to be awarded first-class status against the touring Australians in 1905, with the Scottish side being captained to a draw by Hubert Johnston. They also played South Africa, West Indies, an all-Indian team, and New Zealand before the start of World War II. 1948 saw Australia visit Scotland for two games at the end of their tour of England. These games, both of which Australia won by an innings, were to be the last international games for Don Bradman. The Don signed off in typical style, making a fine unbeaten 123 in the second match.Scorecard of Scotland v Australia, 17 September 1948 at Cricket Archive In 1954, Scotland hosted a three-match to the touring Pakistanis, which they lost by 10 wickets. Five years later, they held India to a draw.
The Pakistanis returned to Scotland in 1971, winning in Selkirk by 154 runs. The following year, Scotland gave the touring Australia side a scare in a low-scoring match, before succumbing to a six-wicket defeat. Scotland hosted New Zealand in 1978, losing by an innings and 157 runs.
English domestic cricket
As well as hosting touring sides, Scotland frequently played English first-class counties in the post-war period, and took part in the Benson & Hedges Cup for the first time in 1980. After enduring several winless seasons, their first Benson & Hedges victory came against Lancashire in 1986. Their second win came in 1990 when they beat Northamptonshire, a match in which a 20-year-old Dougie Brown took three wickets. When the tournament was reduced to the top eight County Championship teams for the 1999 season, they were unable to qualify and they did not rejoin the competition thereafter. From 1983 onwards, they took part in the NatWest Trophy. Their first win in the knockout competition came against Worcestershire in 1998. Gavin Haynes hit 74 and Man of the Match Craig Wright took 5/23 as Scotland sealed a famous four-run victory.
In the following season, they made it to the third round of an expanded version of the competition, beating Nottinghamshire Cricket Board and Dorset County Cricket Club before losing to Surrey in the Third Round. When the tournament was rebranded the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, Scotland were unable to take part in the 2001 edition due to their appearance in the 2001 ICC Trophy. However they returned in 2002, enjoying wins over Middlesex Cricket Board and Dorset. In 2003, Scotland beat the Lancashire Cricket Board before losing out to Somerset. Similarly, the following year they enjoyed success against minor county Cumberland before losing to Essex.
In 2006 the tournament moved to a group stage, Scotland enjoyed a considerably better campaign, winning three games against first-class counties. Between 2007 and 2009, in what was now named the Friends Provident Trophy, Scotland won one game in each season. When the Friends Provident Trophy ended, Scotland joined the Clydesdale Bank 40, registering two victories in the 2010 edition. They won twice more in the 2011 season, when they adopted the name Scottish Saltires. However, in the following season they recorded just one victory, and their final season, in 2013, was winless. Then the Royal London Cup was launched in 2014, but no international teams were included. Since then, Cricket Scotland has expressed interest in playing in county cricket again, with the T20 Blast said to be their priority, but the Royal London Cup and The Hundred also of interest. Tournament NameWLNRTournament NameWLNRTournament NameWLTNR1980Gillette Cup B&H Cup04 John Player League 1981Natwest Trophy B&H Cup04 John Player League 1982Natwest Trophy B&H Cup04 John Player Special League 1983Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup031John Player Special League 1984Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup04 John Player Special League 1985Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup04 John Player Special League 1986Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup13 John Player Special League 1987Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup04 Refuge Assurance League 1988Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup031Refuge Assurance League 1989Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup04 Refuge Assurance League 1990Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup13 Refuge Assurance League 1991Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup04 Refuge Assurance League 1992Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup031Sunday League 1993Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup01 Axa Equity & Law League 1994Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup01 Axa Equity & Law League 1995Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup04 Axa Equity & Law League 1996Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup04 Axa Equity & Law League 1997Natwest Trophy01 B&H Cup031Axa Life League 1998Natwest Trophy11 B&H Cup031Axa League 1999Natwest Trophy21 CGU National League 2000Natwest Trophy01 Norwich Union National League 2001C&G Trophy Norwich Union League 2002C&G Trophy21 Norwich Union League 2003C&G Trophy11 ECB National League413012004C&G Trophy11 Totesport League214022005C&G Trophy01 Totesport League214112006C&G Trophy36 2007Friends Provident Trophy1712008Friends Provident Trophy1612009Friends Provident Trophy172010Clydesdale Bank 40210 2011Clydesdale Bank 402912012Clydesdale Bank 401832013Yorkshire Bank 400111
ICC Membership
In 1992, Scotland severed their ties with the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) and England, and gained Associate Membership of the ICC in their own right in 1994. They competed in the ICC Trophy for the first time in 1997, finishing third. They were denied a place in the final only by Bangladesh, who were granted full ICC Membership the following year and Test Status in 2001. In the third-place playoff, they beat Ireland by 51 runs, sealing their qualification for the 1999 World Cup,
Although England were official hosts of the World Cup, Scotland earned the right to host two of their matches in The Grange Club in Edinburgh.
Scotland's first ODI was played against eventual champions Australia. While they lost the game, they were competitive and a very strong Australia team reached the target after almost 45 overs.1999 Cricket World Cup at Cricinfo
The rest of the tournament featured some chastening defeats, however, especially to the West Indies and New Zealand, who raced their way to low totals. In what some described as the team's "own Cup Final", the team lost narrowly to Bangladesh. Nonetheless, several players went home with their reputations enhanced, including Gavin Hamilton, who scored 217 runs at 54.25 and John Blain, who took 10 wickets at 21.00.
The 2001 ICC Trophy saw them finish 4th, losing a play-off game to Canada,2001 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo but they won the 2005 tournament, beating long-time rivals Ireland in the final. In 2004, Scotland further staked their claim as one of the leading associate nations by winning the inaugural Intercontinental Cup. However, they did not progress beyond the first round in the 2005 tournament.2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup at Cricinfo
2006
March 2006 saw Scotland embark on a pre-season tour to Barbados. They performed with some credit, although they only won one of their 6 games, against a Barbados XI.Scotland in Barbados 2006 at Cricket Archive They owed much of their success to Nik Morton, who re-qualified to represent Scotland internationally in 2004. They competed in the C & G Trophy in English domestic cricket in the early part of the 2006 English cricket season. They performed better than expected, winning three of their nine games, and finishing eighth in the Northern conference.2006 C & G Trophy points table at Cricket Archive
In June, they played their first ODI since the 1999 World Cup when they took on Pakistan in Edinburgh.List of Scotland's ODIs at Cricket Archive Without key players Dougie Brown and Navdeep Poonia, they lost by five wickets.Scorecard of Scotland v Pakistan, 27 June 2006 at Cricket Archive They finally got their first ODI win in the European Championships in August with a win over Holland in a rain-shortened game.Scorecard of Scotland v Holland, 6 August 2006 at Cricket Archive They again missed key players for some games in this tournament though, and thanks to their loss against Ireland, finished second in the tournament.2006 European Championship Division One at CricketEurope
During 2006 and early 2007, Scotland participated in the third edition of the Intercontinental Cup. They beat Namibia by an innings in May 2006, but draws against Ireland in August and the United Arab Emirates in January 2007 meant that they failed to reach the final.2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup at CricketEurope In December 2006, they travelled to Test nation Bangladesh for a two-match ODI series – their first outside the UK – but lost both matches heavily.
2007 In January 2007, after the Intercontinental Cup match against United Arab Emirates in Sharjah, they travelled to Kenya, first playing in a tri-series against Canada and Kenya in Mombasa, where they finished second.ICC Associates Kenya tri-series 2007 points table at Cricket Archive This was followed by Division One of the World Cricket League in Nairobi, where Scotland finished as runners up.Scorecard of Kenya v Scotland, WCL Division One final, 7 February 2007 at Cricket Archive
They then travelled to West Indies for their second World Cup. They again lost all their games and failed to progress beyond the first round.2007 Cricket World Cup at Cricinfo Back in the UK, they competed in the Friends Provident Trophy, their only win coming against Lancashire.2007 Friends Provident Trophy at CricketEurope They also drew an Intercontinental Cup match against United Arab Emirates.Scorecard of Scotland v United Arab Emirates, 27 June 2007 at Cricket Archive An ODI against Pakistan in July was washed out.Rain denies Scots a shot at Pakistan by Jon Coates, 2 July 2007 at Cricket Scotland's official site