Gavin Hamilton Uncertain about the Future of Scotland Cricket

Scotland captain Gavin Hamilton did not hide his frustration about the downgrading quality of Scotland cricket. After the 130-run defeat at the hands of South Africa in their first game of twenty20 world cup, Hamilton said that his team was playing against some of the best big hitters in the world, as he was trying to find some excuses for South Africa’s total of 211 for 5. However, the batsman also added that Scotland must improve on their current level if they are to show impressive performance against big teams.

Expressing his concern about the future of Scotland cricket, Hamilton called for setting up a cricket academy in the county and stressed that Scotland needs at least half a dozen full-time player. Here, it is noteworthy that most of the members of the Scotland squad are not full time players and that is why, professionalism has not grown fully in Scottish cricket. Moreover, those who look prominent are called up by ECB to play for England. This has become a big obstacle for Scotland.

Cricket is not yet a popular game in Scotland. So, professionalism is still far away to think about and it is not possible for Scotland to set up a domestic league of their own (at this moment they are part of English county cricket). I agree with Hamilton that setting up a cricket academy would be a viable option for Scotland to improve their cricket in the years to come. If the academy can churn out some big stars of cricket, then cricket would also get much more popularity in the cricket in what would be a huge boost for Scotland cricket.

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Guardian

Manchester United Midfielder Darren Fletcher Named Scotland Captain

For the fourth time, Darren Fletcher has been named captain for Scotland team. He will now lead Scotland in world cup qualifier against Norway on Saturday. Manager George Burley has announced his squad for the upcoming match and decided to give the captain’s arm band to the Manchester United midfielder. However, he is not the regular captain for Scotland national team. In fact, he got the chance to lead the side in the absence of Barry Ferguson and Stephen McManus.

Timesonline reported:

“Darren has been an outstanding player for Scotland for a number of years and at the same time has established himself as a regular player for one of the biggest clubs in the world,” the Scotland manager said. “Since I took over, his attitude towards playing for his country has been outstanding, and I know he will be very proud to lead the players out at Hampden on Saturday.

Darren Fletcher has started the season excellently with Manchester United and was in the starting line up of Manchester United in eight out of ten matches so far this season. He is gradually setting himself as a regular starter for Manchester United. That is what caught the attention of George Burley. Darren Fletcher has recently signed a new four-year deal with Manchester United. 24-year-old Fletcher has already played 39 matches for Scotland national team scoring four goals. He joined Manchester United in 2001 when he was just 17 and he has already played 111 premier league matches for Manchester United with nine goals to his credit.

First time, Darren Fletcher led Scotland was way before in 2004 when he was just 20 in a friendly match against Estonia and Scotland won the match 1-0. Thus, he eventually became the youngest Scotland captain in 100 years. Now, let us see if Darren Fletcher can lead Scotland to another victory when they face Norway in a world cup qualifying match.

Rugby World Cup 2007: Scotland Squad

Scotland has declared their final squad for the upcoming Rugby World Cup 2007. You already know that Rugby World Cup 2007 will start from 7 September. This is the sixth edition of Rugby World Cup since the tournament was first held in 1987. Scotland played all of the previous world cup tournaments and in 1991 world cup they project their best ever world cup performance as they got the fourth place in that tournament.

Ahead of Rugby World Cup 2007, Scotland coach Frank Hadden has formed relatively a young team. Twenty players of the squad have not appeared in Rugby world cup. However, most capped Scottish player Scott Murray and fly half Chris Paterson will are going to play their third Rugby world cup.

The only uncapped player in the squad is Flanker John Barclay who will be 21 during Rugby world cup 2007. John Barclay has earlier played in different age groups of Scotland.

Scotland will be playing in pool C where they will face former champion New Zealand, Italy, Portugal and Romania. New Zealand is undoubtedly one of the hard contenders of the tournament. However, Scotland has good possibility to progress in quarter final along with New Zealand.

I am giving the names of the 30-men squad of Scotland team from the official website of Rugby world cup below:

Forwards (17): John Barclay, Kelly Brown, David Callam, Ross Ford, Jim Hamilton, Nathan Hines, Allister Hogg, Allan Jacobsen, Gavin Kerr, Scott Lawson, Scott MacLeod, Euan Murray, Scott Murray, Craig Smith, Simon Taylor, Fergus Thomson, Jason White (Captain).

Backs (13): Mike Blair, Chris Cusiter, Rob Dewey, Marcus Di Rollo, Andrew Henderson, Rory Lamont, Sean Lamont, Rory Lawson, Dan Parks, Chris Paterson, Hugo Southwell, Nikki Walker, Simon Webster.