English calls stumps on his Carlton career

CEDRIC English last night announced he is leaving Scottish champions Carlton after 14 years with the Edinburgh club. The South African-born former Saltires player joined Carlton as overseas professional and was a major influence during a period of unprecedented success.

His crowning moment came when he helped the Grange Loan outfit win their first National League title last season.

Though still rated one of the best batsmen in the country, English wants to pursue new challenges in the game and is in talks with another club over a player-coaching role.

He said: “I’ve had a fantastic time at Carlton and am leaving on a high. Winning our first National League title was a fitting end to my time at Grange Loan and moving on is a natural progression.

“I am still extremely ambitious and want to challenge myself in terms of playing but also with a greater focus on coaching.”

After several seasons as Carlton professional, English settled in Edinburgh and qualified for Scotland, starring in the team that won the Intercontinental Cup in 2004 and the ICC Trophy the following year. His club record of 6,630 runs, with 16 centuries and 34 fifties, makes him the leading run scorer in SNCL history.

English is also among the top ten wicket takers with 251 at an average of 23.15 and an economy rate of 3.22.

Team-mate Fraser Watts said: “It’s sad Ced is leaving Carlton for pastures new. He has been a brilliant servant of the club for many years and will be sorely missed. I’m very proud to have played with such a great cricketer and seen first-hand some of the amazing innings he’s played for Carlton. Ced has done so much for the club, especially when it was really needed. He departs knowing that he is leaving us in a much stronger state than he found us and for that we can’t thank him enough.”

Meanwhile, Cricket Scotland have confirmed Scotland and Lions playing schedule for the forthcoming season. The major change in 2012 will see the Scotland Lions squad play seven three-day games against English county opposition and the MCC.

With six full-time and two part-time Scottish based cricketers, in addition to the emerging crop of players vying to get into the senior Scotland side, these games will them give additional multi-day match experience.

In all, the national squad will play two four-day matches, five ICC one-day matches – three of them ODIs – and 12 matches in the Clydesdale Bank 40. The senior squad will also undertake a training camp in Sri Lanka ahead of the World T20 qualifying where they will compete in a minimum of seven T20 fixtures.

This programme is the largest undertaken by a national and development squad and is designed to allow head coach Peter Steindl the opportunity to continue the progress made by the Scotland side over the past two years.

Scotland’s busy domestic summer will start on 6 May in what promises to be a big occasion at the Citylets Grange as the Saltires take on current Clydesdale Bank 40 Champions, Surrey, in Edinburgh, followed the next day with the visit of the Nottinghamshire Outlaws. Bothwell Castle Policies will then get the opportunity to host the Welsh Dragons and the Hampshire Hawks for the first senior Scotland fixture at this venue since 2000.

Scotland will play the United Arab Emirates and Canada in the Intercontinental Cup and 50-over Intercontinental Cup League, with the latter counting towards qualification to the 2015 ICC World Cup. The major match of the Scottish summer will take place on 12 August against England at the Citylets Grange, Edinburgh.

Steindl said: “The increase in game time for both the National and Lions sides is a vital part of our development. The schedule will provide all of our players with the chance to develop their skills in pressurised environments.”