Kyle Coetzer Steps Down As Scotland Captain

Kyle Coetzer’s illustrious career as Scotland captain came to an end on Friday when the 38-year-old announced his resignation following his team’s World Cup Super League Division Two match against UAE.

In 110 of his 214 appearances, Coetzer was in command of Scotland.

It Has been With Absolute Pleasure To Lead Scotland: Kyle Coetzer

In 2015, he scored their first-ever century in an ODI World Cup, 156 against Bangladesh, and in 2021, he guided them through qualifying and into the main round of the T20 World Cup. When the ICC awarded him the men’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade in 2020, they recognised his tremendous work on and off the field for Scotland. In the same year, Coetzer was awarded an MBE for services to cricket.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure to lead this group through various stages in our growth and development and captain my country and I will look back on the time with such fondness,” he said.

“I’m extremely proud of where we have got to and I’m even more excited with where this team can go under its next leader. It’s been fantastic to see how the players are managing themselves on the field recently and to effectively have more than one leader out there has been a really positive and encouraging sign for me. It was this that made me feel it was the right time to share my decision and step down”, he added.

“My biggest driving force over years has been to help the team have everything they need and lead them in every way I can. Moving forward I have no desire to stop playing and will be giving everything I have to my fellow players and the next captain – going out and scoring as many runs as I possibly can for Scotland remains the focus”, he further added.

According to a press release from Cricket Scotland, Coetzer’s replacement will be named before the team’s next series against Namibia and Nepal in July. In collaboration with senior players and the board’s temporary Head of Performance, Toby Bailey, the coaches, led by Shane Burger, will pick who will fill the position.

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