'It's a very level playing field' - Calum MacLeod
Calum MacLeod is one of the more experienced and dependable men in the Scotland top order. Now 29, MacLeod has been playing international cricket for close to a decade and has played 50 one-day internationals, including six at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, though he didn’t quite get going then with just 48 runs from six innings.
Older and wiser now, MacLeod is confident about his and his team’s chances at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018.
“I'm feeling good, we had a really good camp up in Pretoria and yes, the squad is looking really good,” said MacLeod ahead of Scotland's opening game against Afghanistan on 4 March.
In Kyle Coetzer and Matthew Cross, Scotland have good men opening the innings, and MacLeod feels the power game the middle-order can bring to the table can be the team’s strength.
“The way Kyle [Coetzer] has played in the last 18 months to two years has been outstanding. Matty Cross has started this tour really well and his game has come on in leaps and bounds recently. And then the power we have got all the way from Richie (Berrington) down to six, seven, eight, nine ... we should score a lot of runs on that back-end and hopefully win some games. That power is certainly one of our strengths,” he said.
The other area of strength is pace bowling, which has a number of players with county cricket experience. “Obviously, we want the guys to be playing regularly, playing the best sides that they can and to have a battery of fast bowlers all coming from county experience is very exciting,” said MacLeod, who has also played for Warwickshire and Durham. “We have four-five genuine fast bowlers, and that is all coming from the county (circuit).”
Despite the presence of teams like Windies and Zimbabwe, who have plenty of World Cup experience behind them, and Afghanistan, MacLeod believes that there is not much to separate the teams at the qualifiers based on recent form.
“Obviously, West Indies and Zimbabwe, they have got some Test match experience and Afghanistan as well have been playing a lot recently. They are all teams that we have beaten, they are all teams that we have come up against and competed. I think it is a very level playing field. I think any team can qualify," said MacLeod, who picks out Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan as the bowler he wants to compete with.
Though it’s not really around the corner, playing Test cricket remains MacLeod’s great ambition. “Seeing the way Afghanistan and Ireland have progressed and have got Test match status, I think that is a huge goal for Scotland. I think that is achievable, by watching how they have done,” he said.
“Getting to global events, winning games and just last year we have done that more than we have ever done. So I think this squad and this team are on the right path, and that is something that motivates everybody that is involved in Cricket Scotland.”
Scotland begin their campaign in Zimbabwe against Afghanistan on the opening day of the tournament – 4 March – at the Bulawayo Athletic Club.