A History of Cricket in Scotland

Cricket in Scotland is 224 years old. The first match for which records are available was played in September 1785 at Schaw Park, Alloa. The game was introduced to Scotland by English soldiers garrisoned in the country in the years following the Jacobite rising led by Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745; and it is no coincidence that the oldest known club is Kelso (records date back to 1820), in the Borders, then a garrison town. In other areas the game seems to have been introduced by immigrant English workers in the paper, textile and iron industries.

Teams representing Scotland have played matches since 1865, against a total of more than 20 countries, including all the Test-playing nations, and numerous other select teams, including, of course, the MCC. But the development of Scotland's international standing was more-or-less ignored for the best part of the 20th century, with three-day matches against Ireland and the MCC being the only ones granted 'first-class' status.

In 1980, Scotland was invited to take part in England's Benson and Hedges Cup and NatWest Trophy one-day competitions. In 1992, Scotland resigned from membership of the UK Cricket Council, effectively severing links with England in the cricketing sense, and in 1994 was elected to Associate Membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC). This gave Scotland its own voice in world cricket and the national team took part for the first time in the ICC Trophy held in Kuala Lumpur in March/April 1997. Third place qualified Scotland for the ICC World Cup in 1999 hosted by England, and Scotland themselves hosted two games (against New Zealand & Bangladesh) at The Grange Club in Edinburgh.

Although failing to qualify for the 2003 World Cup, Scotland have made significant inroads in professionalising the game in Scotland. The first part of this was Scotland's acceptance into the English Sunday League competition in 2003, for a period of three years. This involved playing a minimum of 18 matches of top class cricket against the English counties, giving both players and administrators the level of experience necessary for Scotland's progress to One-Day International status.

That is now in prospect from 1 January 2006, following Scotland's victory in the 2005 ICC Trophy which, added to winning the inaugural (three-day) ICC Intercontinental Cup in November 2004, puts the Scots into 12th place in the global rankings. Qualification for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies has been achieved, and now another such challenge faces the Saltires in South Africa in April 2009. 

For further background to cricket in Scotland, read an article by Mike Stanger.