Photo Credit: ICC
Michael Leask has backed Scotland to keep sending ‘shockwaves’ through the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 ahead of their toughest tests yet.
The in-form Scots have beaten Ireland, United Arab Emirates and Oman in their opening three games to seal a spot in the Super Six and will round off their group stage campaign against fellow unbeaten side Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Having missed out on qualification for ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 by a whisker, a rain-affected five-run defeat against West Indies ending their chances, Leask hopes they can use their current confidence to ensure a reversal in their fortunes this time around.
“We are an associate nation playing against Test-playing nations but we have ticked off one Test-playing nation [Ireland] already, so we want to keep doing the same,” he said.
“We are not here to make up the numbers. We have good depth and a nice blend of youth and experience, so why can’t we send shockwaves through the competition and do it for the associate nations?
“Sri Lanka have been playing well but so have we. They are being tipped as favourites and they pose a slightly different challenge, which is a great test of us as a team.
“It’s an exciting test for us and we are going in full of confidence.”
Leask was key to Scotland laying down an early marker, blasting an unbeaten 91 from 61 deliveries to lead his side to a thrilling last-ball victory over Ireland.
That marked the first of several impressive individual displays among a team who are seeing different players step up when it matters, a category the 32-year-old is delighted to find himself part of.
“The Ireland game was one of my favourite wins,” he said.
“To do it in a World Cup Qualifier when they had us on the ropes was great. We look back at the T20 World Cup in Australia last year when we had them on the ropes and they did the same to us, so to reverse that was particularly satisfying.
“I’ve been in the team for a long time without doing an awful lot at times, a couple of fifties here and there, but in those crunch games I’ve sometimes gifted it away without seeing it home.
“At the moment, I feel I’m a lot more level-headed and I’m fighting until the bitter end. It was satisfying to take command and be the man who was there at the end finishing it off.”
Sri Lanka are the first of several heavyweights Scotland will have to topple if they are to qualify for their fourth ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Hosts Zimbabwe, familiar foes Netherlands and West Indies – who Scotland defeated at last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup – will also lie in wait but Leask is relishing the challenge.
“We’ll be hit with a bit of pace from certain teams, like West Indies, and Zimbabwe will have the backing of the home crowd – but they are great occasions,” he said.
“We played in Nepal in front of 15,000 fans, and it’s great to have an atmosphere at these games. It boosts you as a cricketer knowing you’re at a global event playing in front of a big crowd.
“Likewise with Netherlands, we’ve had a few good games with them in the past and it will be nice to take them head-on again.”
