HARARE, Zimbabwe, CMC – Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer has slammed cricket’s governing body, the ICC, for their decision not to utilise DRS in the ongoing World Cup qualifiers, arguing it had cost his side a place at the showpiece in England next year.
Victory over West Indies on Wednesday would have seen the Scots qualify for the World Cup but they lost instead by five runs under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, after a thunderstorm forced the game to be abandoned.
Chasing 199 at Harare Sports Club, Scotland seemed well poised on 105 for four in the 32nd over when top-scorer Richie Berrington (32) was shockingly adjudged lbw to one from off-spinner Ashley Nurse which was clearly missing leg stump.
With no option to review, the wicket swung the DLS calculation in the Windies favour and when the rains arrived four overs later, the Scots were short of the required par score of 130.
“The lbw decision is not sitting very well with us. It has cost us, and it’s cost us a lot of money as well,” a crestfallen Coetzer said afterwards
“They (West Indies) won the game fair and square in the end, but a competition like this … DRS? You’re playing with people’s livelihoods and there’s a lot of money at stake and it proved costly today.
“In a competition like this it comes down to a big game like that. We are feeling pretty rough right now. There’s a lot of emotion going round.”
The victory put West Indies in the World Cup and ensured that Scotland – and no other ICC associate nation for that matter – would qualify for the tournament.
Ireland and Afghanistan will clash on Friday for the final available World Cup spot after United Arab Emirates stunned hosts Zimbabwe on Thursday.
Coetzer said Scotland had gotten overwhelming support throughout the tournament and the defeat was hard to take, especially in the circumstances.
“There is a clear reason why everyone was behind us: because they wanted a point to be proved,” Coetzer pointed out.
“We wanted to make a scene and get to the World Cup. That was for what we feel was for the good of the game and we were within five runs.
“We have guys in the top wicket-takers and top run-scorers which just shows we are mixing with ‘full member nations’, as they’re called.
“Five runs and something pretty important could have happened there.”
Fourteen nations contested the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand but the ICC slashed the complement to 10 for the 2019 edition, allowing automatic places only for hosts England and the remaining top-seven ranked sides.
This forced West Indies and Zimbabwe into the qualifying series, immediately damaging the associate nations’ chances of reaching the World Cup.
The move was not one favoured by Coetzer.
“It wasn’t to be and it’s hard to comprehend that there’s only going to be a 10-team World Cup,” he lamented.