Before ICC Membership The first recorded cricket match in Scotland took place in
Alloa in 1785. It would be another eighty years, however, before Scotland's national side played their first full match, against the English county
Surrey in 1865, which they won by 172 runs. The first Scottish Cricket Union was formed in 1879, and the national team beat
Australia by 7 wickets three years later. The cricket union became defunct in 1883, and Grange Cricket Club took over the administration of the game until 1909. The first match against
Ireland took place in
Dublin in 1888, with Ireland winning. Scotland played their first match to be awarded
first-class status against the touring Australians in 1905, with the Scottish side being captained to a draw by
Hubert Johnston. They also played South Africa, West Indies, an all-Indian team, and New Zealand before the start of World War II. 1948 saw Australia visit Scotland for two games at the end of their tour of England. These games, both of which Australia won by an innings, were to be the last international games for
Don Bradman. The Don signed off in typical style, making a fine unbeaten 123 in the second match. In 1954, Scotland hosted a three-match to the touring
Pakistanis, which they lost by 10 wickets. Five years later, they held
India to a draw. The Pakistanis returned to Scotland in 1971, winning in
Selkirk by 154 runs. The following year, Scotland gave the touring Australia side a scare in a low-scoring match, before succumbing to a six-wicket defeat. Scotland hosted New Zealand in 1978, losing by an innings and 157 runs.
English domestic cricket As well as hosting touring sides, Scotland frequently played English first-class counties in the post-war period, and took part in the
Benson & Hedges Cup for the first time in 1980. After enduring several winless seasons, their first Benson & Hedges victory came against
Lancashire in 1986. Their second win came in 1990 when they beat
Northamptonshire, a match in which a 20-year-old
Dougie Brown took three wickets. When the tournament was reduced to the top eight
County Championship teams for the 1999 season, they were unable to qualify and they did not rejoin the competition thereafter. In 1983, they took part in the
NatWest Trophy. Their first win in the knockout competition came against
Worcestershire in 1998.
Gavin Haynes hit 74 and Man of the Match
Craig Wright took 5/23 as Scotland sealed a famous four-run victory. In
the following season, they made it to the third round of an expanded version of the competition, beating
Nottinghamshire Cricket Board and
Dorset County Cricket Club before losing to
Surrey in the Third Round. When the tournament was rebranded the
Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, Scotland were unable to take part in the 2001 edition due to their appearance in the
2001 ICC Trophy. However they returned in
2002, enjoying wins over
Middlesex Cricket Board and Dorset. In 2003, Scotland beat the
Lancashire Cricket Board before losing out to
Somerset. Similarly, the following year they enjoyed success against minor county
Cumberland before losing to
Essex. In 2006 the tournament moved to a group stage, Scotland enjoyed a considerably better campaign, winning three games against first-class counties. Between 2007 and 2009, in what was now named the
Friends Provident Trophy, Scotland won one game in each season. When the Friends Provident Trophy ended, Scotland joined the Clydesdale Bank 40, registering two victories in the
2010 edition. They won twice more in the
2011 season, when they adopted the name Scottish Saltires. However, in the
following season they recorded just one victory, and their final season, in
2013, was winless. Then the
Royal London Cup was launched in 2014, but no international teams were included. Since then,
Cricket Scotland has expressed interest in playing in county cricket again, with the
T20 Blast said to be their priority, but the Royal London Cup and
The Hundred also of interest.
ICC Membership In 1992, Scotland severed their ties with the
Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) and England, and gained
Associate Membership of the ICC in their own right in 1994. Scotland's first ODI was played against eventual champions Australia. While they lost the game, they were competitive and a very strong Australia team reached the target after almost 45 overs. The rest of the tournament featured some chastening defeats, however, especially to the
West Indies and
New Zealand, who raced their way to low totals. In what some described as the team's "own Cup Final", the team lost narrowly to Bangladesh. Nonetheless, several players went home with their reputations enhanced, including
Gavin Hamilton, who scored 217 runs at 54.25 and
John Blain, who took 10 wickets at 21.00. The
2001 ICC Trophy saw them finish 4th, losing a play-off game to
Canada, but they won the
2005 tournament, beating long-time rivals Ireland in the final. In 2004, Scotland further staked their claim as one of the leading associate nations by winning the inaugural
Intercontinental Cup. However, they did not progress beyond the first round in the 2005 tournament.
2006 plays through backward point for a boundary against India at Glasgow's
Titwood ground, 16 August 2007 March 2006 saw Scotland embark on a pre-season tour to
Barbados. They performed with some credit, although they only won one of their 6 games, against a Barbados XI. They owed much of their success to Nik Morton, who re-qualified to represent Scotland internationally in 2004. They competed in the
C & G Trophy in
English domestic cricket in the early part of the
2006 English cricket season. They performed better than expected, winning three of their nine games, and finishing eighth in the Northern conference. In June, they played their first ODI since the
1999 World Cup when they took on
Pakistan in Edinburgh. Without key players Dougie Brown and
Navdeep Poonia, they lost by five wickets. They finally got their first ODI win in the
European Championships in August with a win over
Holland in a rain-shortened game. They again missed key players for some games in this tournament though, and thanks to their loss against Ireland, finished second in the tournament. During 2006 and early 2007, Scotland participated in the third edition of the
Intercontinental Cup. They beat
Namibia by an innings in May 2006, but draws against Ireland in August and the
United Arab Emirates in January 2007 meant that they failed to reach the final. In December 2006, they travelled to Test nation
Bangladesh for a two-match ODI series – their first outside the UK – but lost both matches heavily.
2007 In January 2007, after the Intercontinental Cup match against United Arab Emirates in
Sharjah, they travelled to
Kenya, first playing in a
tri-series against
Canada and
Kenya in
Mombasa, where they finished second. This was followed by
Division One of the
World Cricket League in
Nairobi, where Scotland finished as runners up. They then travelled to
West Indies for their second
World Cup. They again lost all their games and failed to progress beyond the first round. Back in the UK, they competed in the
Friends Provident Trophy, their only win coming against Lancashire. They also drew an Intercontinental Cup match against United Arab Emirates. An ODI against Pakistan in July was washed out. In July, Scotland took part in a
quadrangular series in Ireland against the hosts, Holland and
West Indies. However, the endeavour was not a success. They lost their matches against Ireland and West Indies, with the match against Holland being abandoned due to rain. At the beginning of August, Scotland were on Intercontinental Cup duty as they beat Holland by an innings and 59 runs. They then drew with Ireland in a rain-affected match, only gaining 3 points after a poor 1st innings display.
India were Scotland's next ODI opponents in mid-August, which was shown live on BBC Scotland from Titwood, Glasgow. The match was reduced slightly to 46 overs after a couple of brief showers, but India won by 7 wickets. Having reached the final of the
World Cricket League earlier in the year, Scotland qualified to play in the
Twenty20 World Championship held in South Africa. They lost by 51 runs to Pakistan in their first game, and did not get a chance to play their other Group D opponents
India, as the game was washed out without a ball being bowled.
2008 In July 2008, Scotland played a
tri-series against New Zealand and Ireland in
Aberdeen, Scotland. Scotland beat Ireland but lost their match against New Zealand. In early August, Scotland participated with five other Associate nations in the
2009 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Belfast. Despite an initial loss to hosts Ireland, victory against Bermuda secured a semi final slot. Throwing off the disappointment of an unexpected loss to Holland in the semi-final a few hours earlier, Scotland bounced right back for a 9 wicket victory over Kenya (who had advanced ahead of Canada), to secure third place. However, with only two nations guaranteed to progress, qualification for the
2009 ICC World Twenty20 was only granted when Zimbabwe confirmed that they would not attend the tournament. On 18 August, Scotland played their first ODI encounter against England. Hosting the Auld Enemy, at the Grange Cricket Club in
Edinburgh. However the match was abandoned due to rain after less than 3 overs of England's reply to Scotland's 156/9. In December 2008,
Cricket Scotland, the governing body of Scottish cricket, took the historic act of giving three Scotland players central contracts. Bowlers
Gordon Goudie and
Dewald Nel and captain
Ryan Watson became the first full-time professional cricketers based in Scotland. Nineteen other cricketers have been offered part-time professional deals.
2009 Scotland participated in the
2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England in June 2009. They were drawn alongside Test nations
New Zealand and
South Africa in Group D, with both matches being played at
The Oval in London. The first match, against New Zealand, was shortened to 7 overs per side due to rain. Scotland batted first and made 89/4, with
Kyle Coetzer top-scoring with 33. However, three no-balls and a dropped catch enabled New Zealand to win by seven wickets with an over to spare. In the second match, South Africa made 211/5, with
AB de Villiers hitting 79 not out off only 34 balls. In response, Scotland were bowled out for 81, more than half of which was scored by Coetzer (42). The 130-run margin of defeat was the second-largest in terms of runs in a Twenty20 International.
2010 In 2010, Scotland took part in the inaugural
ECB 40 tournament. Scotland competed in the qualifiers in the
United Arab Emirates, to compete for a place in the
2010 ICC World Twenty20 in the
West Indies. They competed for a place with
Afghanistan,
Canada,
Ireland,
Kenya,
Holland,
United Arab Emirates and
USA. The tournament was disappointing for Scotland, going out in the group stage without winning a single match. Scotland's Intercontinental Cup campaign was more successful as they reached the final in December – against Afghanistan – at the bespoke new cricket stadium in Dubai. Scheduled as a four-day first-class match of two innings each side, Afghanistan won the game in eight sessions. The match was live-streamed online by Cricket Scotland in agreement with the ICC.
ICC World Cup Qualifiers During March and April 2009 Scotland attempted to defend the ICC Trophy they won in 2005. To secure qualification for the
2011 Cricket World Cup a top four place was targeted. They were also attempting to secure ODI status by finishing in the top six. Scotland started the tournament badly by losing three of their five group games. With only the points earned against Namibia being taken through to the Super Eights, Scotland faced a difficult route to the World Cup. Scotland started the Super Eights well by beating Holland in their first match. Defeats against Kenya and Afghanistan followed. The result of which threatened Scotland's qualification for the World Cup as well as the possibility of losing their ODI status if they finished out of the top six. Victory against United Arab Emirates in their last game, and an improved run-rate, thanks to the 122 run victory, ensured a top six place for the Scots, securing ODI status until the next round of World Cup qualifiers. In 2012, Scotland achieved their first victory against a
full member of the
ICC when it defeated a
touring Bangladesh side. The Scottish team qualified for the ICC
Cricket World Cup 2015 in
Australia and
New Zealand, but was eliminated after six straight losses out of six matches. In January 2017 Scotland took part in the
2017 Desert T20 Challenge. They won all three of their group fixtures, before losing to
Ireland in the semi-finals.
Zimbabwe tour of Scotland in 2017 Scotland achieved their second victory against a
full member of the
ICC when it defeated a
touring Zimbabwe side.
2018 Scotland achieved their third victory against a
full member of the ICC when it defeated a
touring England side.
2022 Scotland achieved their fourth victory against a
full member of the ICC when it defeated the
West Indies in the first round of the
2022 ICC T20 World Cup. ==International grounds==