Scotland cricketers back in action for first time since T20 World Cup - coach Shane Burger to miss matches

Scotland interim head coach Craig Wright admits the men’s national team are “buzzing” to get back to international cricket as they get ready to play their first competitive match since November on Saturday.

Kyle Coetzer will captain Scotland once again for the upcoming matches against Papua New Guinea and Oman.

After Scotland reached the second stage of the T20 World Cup in October and November last year in the UAE and Oman there was a real sense of excitement about where this group of players could go in that format of the game and in 50-over cricket.

Since then, the players involved on that trip and others who are part of the wider squad have been working hard in training, but they have not had another chance to show people what they can do.

They are now in Dubai to play in a Cricket World Cup League 2 50-over series versus Papua New Guinea and Oman, with the former first up on Saturday (6.30am UK time).

With head coach Shane Burger unavailable for this trip due to personal reasons, his assistant Wright is in charge in the interim and he said: “Training has been going well and the guys are just buzzing to get back to some competitive cricket.

“What has pleased me of late has been the intensity of the training and the work being put in and we are all aware that we want to hit the ground running for 2022 on this trip.

“It is nice to see a few new faces in amongst a settled group and they have integrated well. The batters have also benefitted from some sessions with Stevie Gilmour of late back at home and I am looking forward to seeing how the team performs.”

The new faces Wright mentions are the uncapped trio of Brad Currie, Chris McBride and Fin McCreath who are in a 15-strong squad skippered by Kyle Coetzer.

After the PNG game on Saturday, Scotland will take on Oman on Sunday, PNG next Wednesday and Oman next Friday.

Scotland squad: Kyle Coetzer (C), Richie Berrington, Dylan Budge, Brad Currie, Matthew Cross, Michael Leask, Gavin Main, Calum MacLeod, Chris McBride, Fin McCreath, George Munsey, Adrian Neill, Safyaan Sharif, Hamza Tahir, Mark Watt.