T20 World Cup 2024: Scotland World Cup squad announced, key players make a comeback

On Monday, May 6, the Scotland National Cricket Team announced their 15-man squad for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, which is set to be hosted by the West Indies and USA in the month of June.

The 2024 edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup will begin on June 1 with the final scheduled on June 29. ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 will be the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England National Cricket Team will be entering the competition as defending champions. Also, for the first time, 20 teams will be featured in the competition.

Scotland have been placed in Group B of the World Cup along with England, Australia, Oman, and Namibia. To prepare well for the mega event, Scotland will be taking on the Netherlands National Cricket Team and Ireland National Cricket Team in a tri-series from May 18.

Talking about the Scotland squad, two key players have returned to the side for the World Cup in batter Michael Jones and pacer Brad Wheal. Notably, the aforementioned players, who also played in the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, will not participate in the tri-series.

Scotland National Cricket Team will be led by the veteran all-rounder Richie Berrington, who has played over 200 white-ball matches at the international level, and they will be looking to register some huge wins this time around. 

Team Scotland are all set to leave for the World Cup on Sunday, May 26. They will travel to Trinidad and Tobago for two warm-up fixtures against Afghanistan and Uganda and then Barbados will be their next destination where they will train and open their campaign against the England National Cricket Team in Bridgetown on Tuesday 4 June.

It was a really difficult selection meeting - Scotland head coach 

In an official statement issued by Cricket Scotland, the head coach of the team - Doug Watson - stated that they had a hard time selecting the best 15 players for the World Cup and added that they at last locked in on a squad that provides them the best balance. He also spoke about the return of Michael Jones and Brad Wheal for the marquee tournament. He elaborated:

“It was a really difficult selection meeting, and it’s never easy getting it down to a squad of fifteen. I think it was ultimately about getting the balance of the squad just right and we feel we’ve done that here. It’s good that we’ve got some of our county players available, and we are really excited with the fifteen we’ve chosen, so now we can look forward to what lies ahead.

“To have Michael Jones and Brad Wheal available, their experience from previous T20 World Cups is crucial for the group. I’m looking forward to meeting them both, getting to know them and seeing their skills up close.

“The bulk of the squad have been together for a while now and did a fantastic job last year at both the 50-over Qualifier and the T20 Qualifier last summer. It’s nice to have a bit of continuity along the way, although they haven’t played a lot of cricket since. Hopefully, we can see the same level from these players, if not higher, when we get to the Caribbean."

Doug Watson expressed his excitement over the future of Scotland cricket and said that the T20 World Cup presents the players with the best opportunity to shine on the global stage. He elaborated:

“I’m very excited about what lies ahead, and I think the players are too, the closer we get to it. We’re getting a few games under our belt before then; we’re off to play Netherlands and Ireland in a couple of weeks, and that’ll be good just to get a bit of competitiveness under our belts. We’re done with training now, and we want to play competitive cricket.

“For us as a nation, it’s a real opportunity to shine on the global stage. If you look at the landscape of cricket now, with all the different franchise tournaments available for these guys to play in around the world, this is still the pinnacle. From a personal and team perspective, it’s massive.

“That first game against England, it’ll be quite a day – but we won’t look too far ahead. We’ll just ensure that we prepare well as a team, and individually, to represent Scotland as best we can.”

Scotland Squad For T20 World Cup 2024: 

Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Jack Jarvis, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Charlie Tear, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal.