Nelson, New Zealand: A disappointed Scotland turned their six-wicket World Cup loss to Bangladesh on Thursday into an appeal to the International Cricket Council to give Associate teams more cricket, not less.
The game against Bangladesh on a batting-friendly Saxton Oval wicket in Nelson was ripe for the taking, Scotland captain Preston Mommsen said after his side’s 318 for eight outstripped their previous best World Cup total by more than a hundred runs.
But Bangladesh, a full Test-playing nation, chased down the target with six wickets to spare, leaving Mommsen trapped between satisfaction with Scotland’s performance and despair at the result.
It was the second successive match where Scotland had blown a commanding position, after losing to Afghanistan by just one wicket last week.
“I’m very disappointed, especially after that last result against Afghanistan, and then to play so well in that first half [against Bangladesh] and not get over the line, very disappointed. The team are gutted,” Mommsen said.
After losing the toss and being sent into bat, Scotland posted a string of national records led by opener Kyle Coetzer’s 156, the first World Cup century by a Scotland batsman, while the 318-run total was Scotland’s third highest one-day international score of all time.
To score comfortably over 300 and then lose highlighted the gulf in experience between the two sides, Mommsen said.
“The Bangladeshi team all together have played hundreds and hundreds of ODIs whereas we’ve played a handful of ODIs together. So that, of course, comes into it, experience and handling and managing that chase.
“That showed that they’ve done that before and they went through the gears very well.”
Scotland remain without a win after contesting three World Cups and, with the ICC planning to reduce the number of teams in 2019, this could be their last appearance at one-day cricket’s showpiece tournament.
But Mommsen said that’s a decision that needs to be revisited.
“We knew today was a huge opportunity for us [for a first win]. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future regarding World Cups and the participation of Associate nations.
“I think a lot of discussions need to be had and the right decisions need to be made because at the moment I don’t think people are making the right decisions in terms of Associate cricket.”
Although debate has centred on the World Cup, the Scotland captain said he was more concerned about what happened in the intervening years when Associate nations needed to be playing more cricket.
“Because at the moment, it’s quite clearly not enough. But if you’re focusing on a World Cup, it’s a World Cup, it’s a world tournament, so it should include teams from all over the world,” Mommsen said.
“But if you’re cutting that down, it’s just going back to having another Champions Trophy, so I don’t think it should be called a World Cup if you’re cutting down the teams even more.”
