West Indies lose to Scotland, troop back home, mis...

West Indies lose to Scotland, troop back home, miss out on World Cup for first time

West Indies will not play in the ODI World Cup for the first time after a crushing defeat by an understrength Scotland side in Bulawayo ended their chances of advancing from the qualification tournament in Zimbabwe.

The seven-wicket defeat - which follows West Indies’s losses against Zimbabwe and Netherlands earlier in the competition - confirms that the winners of the first two World Cups, in 1975 and 1979, will not appear in the 2023 edition. It follows West Indies’s defeats to Scotland and Ireland in the first stage of last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, which saw them eliminated before the Super 12 stage.

This defeat will be seen by many as a new nadir for West Indies cricket, even if the side’s white-ball plight overlooks some solid Test performances at home in recent years - including series victories over England in both 2019 and 2022.

Events in Zimbabwe underscore the judgement of Darren Sammy, who took over as West Indies white-ball coach before the qualifiers, about the scale of the changes needed in the Caribbean. Yet, for all the focus upon structural changes, Sammy’s biggest frustration will be with West Indies’ failures in the fundamentals: he has called West Indies the “worst fielding side” in the tournament. Two more dropped catches against Scotland took their tally in this competition to 12.

“We let ourselves down in the entire tournament,” lamented captain Shai Hope. “The preparation needs to be better. We cannot come here and expect to be an elite team without preparation. Cannot expect to wake up one morning and be a great team.”

West Indies would also be entitled to highlight how they have been hampered by broader structural issues in the game: above all the lack of equitable revenue-sharing in the sport, or any payments when they tour more lucrative nations. Yet Scotland suffer many of the same handicaps - and, as an Associate member, receive far less funding and a paltry fixture list. At the qualification tournament, Scotland are also impeded by clashes with the English county season, which have deprived them of Durham opener Michael Jones and Somerset all-rounder Josh Davey.

Scotland overcame these absences to produce one of the most significant victories in their history, which will be ranked with the ODI win over England and the T20 World Cup victories over Bangladesh and West Indies in the past five years. From the moment that Brandon McMullen, swinging the new ball prodigiously with keeper Matthew Cross standing up, took three new-ball wickets, Scotland were in complete control. McMullen was well-supported by Chris Sole, bowling at pace that at times approached 90mph, and Mark Watt’s left-arm spin.

On a largely benign batting track, a target of 182 should never have worried Scotland. Chris McBride’s first ball dismissal, flicking a low full toss to midwicket, might have brought back memories of Scotland’s agonising failure to chase a similarly low target against West Indies to reach the 2019 World Cup. Instead, McMullen - a 23-year-old from South Africa who qualifies for Scotland through ancestry and studied at Stirling University - continued his supreme tournament, straight-driving Alzarri Joseph in his 69. He shared a 125-run partnership for the second wicket with keeper-batsman Matthew Cross, who scored an undefeated 74.

When Cross thumped Romario Shepherd over midwicket for four, it sealed perhaps the most comfortable ODI victory ever by an Associate against a traditional ‘big eight’ Test match nation. And, for all the focus on West Indies’ woes, it highlighted how the wider improvements in the global depth of the game have come during a time of the ODI World Cup being restricted to 10 teams. By 2027, the World Cup is returning to 14 teams. But, on this evidence, there is still no guarantee of the West Indies being there. – The Telegraph