IN ONE sense, the motto "stick to what you know" would seem to misrepresent Cricket Scotland. In another, it would be quite fitting. The game has known upheaval and discord in recent times that it would rather forget, but looking within for familiar faces has become the vogue solution.
Roddy Smith, Cricket Scotland chief executive, says that qualifying for the next World Cup would herald a semi-professional era for the elite Picture: Donald MacLeod
Pete Steindl, the community development manager, was appointed head coach on the 19th day of advent, having beaten off rivals with higher profiles and more experience. The 37-year-old club professional and junior coach has no experience of instructing a senior cricket team.
Nor did his predecessor, so the widespread presumption was that the governing body would head this time down a different path, instilling faith in a walking, talking track record. But no.
Roddy Smith, the chief executive, admits he is under as much pressure as anyone to make sure Scotland qualify for the next World Cup, in south Asia in 2011. But some allow pressure to engulf and influence them; Smith is built like David Sole and refuses to press the panic button or veer from his convictions. Rather than kick for touch, he seems to be saying, let's stick to what we rehearsed in training. He had better know what he is doing.
The qualifying event for 2011, in the United Arab Emirates, is 16 months away and the reward on offer dwarfs any previous incentives. The number of associate nations invited to the World Cup might be cut from six to four but it would still be a real shock if Scotland failed to secure a place. So, after two key coaching appointments went awry, with neither Peter Drinnen nor Andy Moles seeing out their two-year contracts, the priority this time was to play safe in the interests of continuity. Outsiders interpreted that strategy differently from Smith and his panel, who had their own identikit in mind.
"I didn't go into the last two appointments trying to get it wrong. You could say they were failed experiments, but in the last two ICC (limited-overs] competitions against our peers we have come first in one and second in the other," the former Grange batsman pointed out.
"Realistically, these appointments did not fail in terms of performance, they just weren't as successful in building the long-term structure that I want. We have created that structure now, filled from top to bottom with Scottish coaches who we have developed, and I sincerely hope that doesn't change in the near future.
"However, if we don't get success in '09 then we are all under pressure because there is a business outcome to consider here, not just a cricket one. It (World Cup qualification] affects absolutely everything we do."
Laying Steindl's hand on the tiller at this time – he can at least rely on the architect of Ireland's World Cup heroics, Adi Birrell , as well as "junior" staff in Ravelston who are better-qualified but did not apply for the top job – is a monumental leap of faith. But Smith will not be deflected from his vision of a pyramid coaching structure that will help to make Scottish cricket self-serving.
"If you look at it logically, the test of the next 16 months isn't how well we do in the World Twenty20 qualifiers or whether we beat England or New Zealand (whom the Scots face in one-day internationals at home this summer] – the single key to success is qualifying at the next ICC trophy," he said.
"The new regime will begin on 1 January with that single aim as an end goal, and success or failure will be judged on that. That goes for everyone, because 2009 is crucial to the development of cricket in Scotland. We can potentially treble the amount of money we get from the ICC, and that won't just benefit the national side."
True, the benefits will spread beyond the national side, but the rewards to the elite will be considerable. Namely, they can expect to become far more familiar with the kind of contracts that allowed a squad of 15 to take three months off work at the start of this year, to prepare for Scotland's second World Cup appearance.
There won't, despite previous hints from Smith, be any deals next summer except for the usual retainer payments, so players with careers and family commitments will have to carefully hand-pick personal itineraries to ensure they can play in the key fixtures: six ODIs and the Belfast qualifying tournament for the 2009 World Twenty20 in England.
Thereafter, the intention is to create two-month contracts for 15 players in the early part of 2009, which, in the event of targets being met in the Gulf, will be repeated with similar arrangements in the summers hence – whenever fixture congestion demands. CS's ambition is paired with ongoing prudence, and players will not be paid for periods in which they're only training.
"Our key priority is to ensure that the team that goes to Dubai in 2009 is as well-prepared as possible," said Smith. "That event really is the sea change, going forward. If you qualify for the next World Cup, you will have the ability to put in place a semi-professional structure. Then the question is how you do that.
"I don't think we will ever get to the stage of having a professional team 12 months of the year. Even English professional cricketers are only on eight or nine-month contracts. You could employ someone from April to September each year, but what would they do from September to April?
"There are other options we want to explore. If we can work with five or six employers and borrow the players for part of the year, and give them back benefits through exposure and branding, it might allow players to run a professional life alongside a cricket career."
Smith likes familiarity. He wants to know his coaches inside-out and wants them to enjoy the same intimacy with Scotland's players. It's hard to remember a time when there was a happy-family air about Scottish cricket, so after two messy divorces, the patriarch is looking within in the pursuit of domestic bliss.
The full article contains 1039 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
