Scotland — no win thus far, but cricket is definitely their cup of tea

Scotland — no win thus far, but cricket is definitely their cup of tea

Scotland finished ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 without a win and have not defeated a Test-playing nation in any One-Day International (ODI) till now. However, Arunabha Sengupta looks at the country’s long association with cricket and finds at least one area where their contribution has stood the test of time.

The presence of a number of Associate nations in the current World Cup, and also the scheduled absence of most in the subsequent edition, have each been commended and censured.

For some the weaker teams produce one-sided games, a claim some more conscientious analysts have exposed as incorrect. For others the inclusion of associate nations is perhaps the most important step to achieve globalisation of the game.

The reactions towards these sides have been mixed, but mostly favourable. The Irish have impressed one and all with some scintillating performances. The Afghans have mixed talent, brilliance and tales of courage and resilience against the backdrop of their war torn land. Even the motley crew from UAE have garnered sympathy, especially after Jarrod Kimber put it across so eloquently on ESPNCricinfo, “Virat Kohli has his stats shown on the screen. The UAE players have their day jobs shown.”

Scotland, much like UAE, lost all their matches, but gave good account of themselves in at least three games against Test-playing sides. New Zealand pipped them by three wickets in a low-scoring encounter and West Indies squeezed through by three runs in a high-scoring thriller. Kyle Coetzer powered the side to 310 against West Indies and 318 against Bangladesh. But with Afghanistan gladdening the hearts of many by snatching a one-wicket win with three balls to spare, thus producing one of the most memorable matches of the tournament, Scotland ended without a win or a point.

If we take the 1999 and 2007 World Cups into consideration, it makes 14 losses for the nation with nothing under the ‘win’ column. Besides, they have not yet registered a victory in 29 ODIs against Test playing nations. Perhaps Scotland makes an eloquent case for lesser number of Associate nations in the future editions of World Cup cricket.

This seems a trifle strange, primarily because, of the four associate nations in the World Cup, the Scots perhaps have the richest cricketing history. And their contribution to the game contains at least one feature without which cricket itself remains incomplete.

Older than Auld Lang Syne

Scotland has produced plenty of cricketers of note, including two English captains. One battered the Australians by unleashing dangerous pace, another was in turn beaten black and blue by Australian pace himself.

Douglas Jardine was born in India, courted success and infamy with the notorious Bodyline tactics, and later died in Switzerland — but his roots were unquestionably Scottish. His parents were Scottish, he gave his children Scottish names and later asked for his ashes to be scattered over Scotland. Mike Denness also hailed from the land, before moving to Kent and subsequently becoming the captain of England.

There have been several other cricketers, including England leg-spinner and noted journalist Ian Peebles and all-rounder Gavin Hamilton who played a solitary Test for England. There was also Brian Hardie, who scored more than 18,000 runs for Essex over 20 years.

The roots of cricket in the country go long, long back. In his book, The Confessions of a Justified Sinner, James Hogg chose Edinburgh of the early 18th century as his backdrop. And in the novel, he made the young gentlemen of the city play cricket. Although Hogg could have been mistaken about the prevalence of the game in the country during early 1700s, he based his narrative on the experiences during his first trip to Edinburgh in the 1790s. At that time the came across the game frequently as he went around the city.

The first reference of cricket being played in Scotland dates to around 1750, when the stationed military at Perth held a few matches to amuse themselves.

The first recorded match was contested in 1785. A glass goblet bearing the inscription ‘First Cricket Match in Scotland’ was presented to the Haddington Cricket Club by Sir Richard Campbell. The match was played on the estate of the Earl of Cathcart, and the goblet has etchings depicting the members of the Earl’s family watching the game.

However, the incidence of cricket in Scotland probably dates way earlier than that. In the 1730s, the Highland Scots played at Savannah, Georgia, on the occasion of St Andrew’s Day. This perhaps indicates that they knew of the game in Scotland before sailing for America.

In the nineteenth century, clubs were formed, cricket became more organised, and with the advent of the railway, travelling clubs visited the land more and more.

And it is here, towards the end of the 19th century, we come across the biggest contribution of Scotland to the cricket world. No, I did not mean Bodyline when I wrote of this earlier in the article.

The Scottish cuppa

On May 19 and 20, 1892, a team from neighbouring Northumberland played against the Glasgow and District side at Titwood, Glasgow.

Led by Shallett Crawford, the visiting side had useful, if not really extraordinary, cricketers.  Glasgow and District struggled for most of the rain-interrupted game, following on after being bowled out for 53 in the first innings. As the match wore on, the tourists were keener on enjoying themselves, and Davy Nichol, the fast bowler who had flattened the hosts with six wickets in the first innings, was rested in the second. As a result, and probably because of the frequent rains, the match ended in a draw, the hosts reaching 78 for four in the second essay when time was called.

Nichols probably fell in love with the Scottish wickets. After his playing days were over he became a groundsman at George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh, a post he held on to from 1910 until his death in 1940.

All in all it was a rather low key unremarkable match. But what was the glittering contribution to the cricket world?

This was the game in which we come across the first mention of the tea interval in a cricket match. The curious group of cricketers from Northumberland and Glasgow and District enjoyed cups of tea in a short break between lunch and close of play during the days of the match, and the tradition was created. The tea break became as much a part of the game as the scoreboard, the umpires, the toss and every other facet that makes cricket unique.

And it has remained there, a permanent part of the Test matches, First-Class games and also managed to stretch across the first three World Cups.

It makes poetic sense. Glasgow is a city known for its quaint and cosy tea-rooms. Perhaps one of the oldest and more famed ones is called Willow Tearooms. (No cricketing connection in the name, though. The location of the shop is at Sauchiehall Street, and the street name is derived from “saugh”, the Scots word for willow tree)

However, being Scotland, perhaps a shot or two of stronger beverages found their ways into the tea during those two days. That could well account for the match not being played to closure and the scorer being unable to jot down the name of the catcher when the last wicket fell — it is still listed as unknown on the scorecard.

So, we may have strong opinions about Scotland’s credentials for the premier cricket tournament in the world. However, we cannot deny that they have made at least one sterling contribution to the game.

(Arunabha Sengupta is cricket historian and Chief Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He writes about the history and the romance of the game, punctuated often by opinions about modern day cricket, while his post-graduate degree in statistics peeps through in occasional analytical pieces. The author of three novels, he can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/senantix)