ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018: Cricket Scotland set to lose £700,000 bonus after failing to secure berth for 2019 event

Days after Scotland lost their World Cup qualifier match against West Indies via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method, there is some more bad news for Scottish cricket. The Kyle Coetzer-led side lost to Jason Holder’s Windies  by five runs in a rain-affected match in Harare on 21 March, and Cricket Scotland are now set to lose a reported £700,000 bonus in funding. [caption id=“attachment_4402491” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer (L), and Preston Mommsen. AFP[/caption] Cricket Scotland chief executive Malcolm Cannon revealed it to BBC Scotland, and added that he is “not sure” if some full-time contracts could be cut. Cannon said the failure to qualify for next year’s World Cup in England and Wales has meant Cricket Scotland stands to lose “a big bonus” that would have enabled them to develop the game at the grassroots. “It’s an opportunities (sic) cost. Obviously it would have been a big bonus had we got there – and I don’t mean player bonuses or payments. “That would have enabled us to do other things and not just prepare for the World Cup, but also invest in grassroots cricket even more than we are doing currently,” he said. He also lamented the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) scheduling that gives Scotland very little matches this calendar year. Scotland are scheduled to play just one more One-Day International (ODI) – against England on 10 June – and two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) – against Pakistan on 12 and 13 June – this summer. The ICC’s decision to reduce the teams at the World Cup from 14 to 10 has not gone down well with many Associate nations, and Cannon called it “a retrograde step”. Scotland had won all their four matches in the group stage of the World Cup qualifier. They opened their Super Sixes campaign with a win over the United Arab Emirates, but a damaging defeat by Ireland meant their final qualifier against the Windies was a must-win game. At 125/5, they looked well on course for a win after restricting the Windies to 198 runs, when rain ended their pursuit. The Scots crashed out of the World Cup race after losing by five runs on the DLS method.