From being delivery personnel and part-time workers to representing their country in the qualifiers of a showpiece event — that’s how the journey has been for some of the Scotland cricketers.
After 31-year-old Chris Greaves was adjudged Player of the Match for his all-round contribution that led Scotland to an upset six-run win over Bangladesh in a Group B game of the T20 World Cup qualifiers in Al Amerat (Oman) on Sunday, captain Kyle Coetzer revealed it wasn’t too long ago when the former used to deliver parcels for Amazon for an income.
And Sunday’s game was only the second T20I appearance for leg-spinner Greaves, who came up with what indeed was a “special delivery”.
It’s not Greaves alone, though, making such a turnaround in professional career. “It’s something that every individual in Scotland cricket has,” all-rounder Michael Leask told reporters on the eve of the game versus Papua New Guinea.
“Like Chris has done delivery drive, I’ve also worked and a lot of other guys also worked part-time along with their cricket. It does take your mind away from cricket in difficult times.”
It was tough going for these Scotsmen during lockdown after the Covid-19 outbreak, which meant they had to look for other jobs. “During lockdown, it wasn’t easy for anyone and Chris had to find another job to help himself at that time.
“Now he’s reaping the rewards from it because that time really helped him to take his mind away from cricket. He’s got his full focus back on cricket and he is delivering as well, which is really amazing to see,” Leask emphasised.
The 30-year-old added: “As for me, I worked in a building supplies company and was also doing some delivery drive to do a little bit extra and not just sit at home.
“During the lockdown period, it was never easy to sit at home and let time pass away. In fact, all of us had something going on pretty much at that time, so it’s usually good to take your mind away from cricket during such a tough time.”
The players, though, also benefited from the furlough scheme of the UK government during lockdown. “The scheme covered 80 per cent of wages in the UK during lockdown, so that certainly helped the players,” Adriana Wright, head of marketing and communications at Cricket Scotland, told The Telegraph.
Cup preparation
Heading into the T20 World Cup qualifiers, Team Scotland’s preparation wasn’t at all satisfactory because of the pandemic. Before their three-match T20I series versus Zimbabwe in Edinburgh last month, they have only had two ODIs against the Netherlands back in May.
“Those were the only two matches these guys could have in over 18 months because of the pandemic. So the preparation has had to be done largely here in Scotland through our Regional Series, where the best players from around the country play each other and in a series of trial matches which took place in August,” Wright said.
“However, we conducted heat acclimatisation training in Scotland to help the players prepare for the climate in Oman. Our strength and conditioning coach Nick Karamouzis built heat acclimatisation tents, which were heated up to 38 degrees. We put bikes inside for the team to train on,” Wright said.
