LEADERSHIP ON THE AGENDA AS DOMESTIC SEASON BEGINS

Ahead of a full programme across Scotland's domestic cricket leagues for the first time in 2025 this weekend, Cricket Scotland has been supporting captains of teams around the country with a series of networking and information forums.

 

The forums, which took place in person across the five regions, brought together captains from across the leagues to discuss various topics including leadership, conduct and discipline on the field of play and the wider development of the game.

 

Andrew McDowall, Cricket Scotland's Head of Integrity and Compliance, ran the sessions and was delighted at the feedback and input from captains who attended.

 

"The purpose of these forums was to to engage with perhaps the most influential individuals within domestic cricket in Scotland, the leaders on the field of play. It was an opportunity for us to meet people across the country and have an an open and frank discussion about modern day Scottish cricket at the domestic level, bearing in mind this is the nursery for the growth of international players. 

 

"There has been a concern for some time, emanating from last season in particular, that conduct matters on the field of play have been getting out of hand. Additionally, it became apparent that in some quarters teams were neglecting to uphold the spirit of cricket - as set down in the MCC's Laws of the Game and the Code of Conduct - or that teams were quite simply not aware of these rules.

 

"Club captains are the on-field match day leaders in our sport; they are extremely influential people within our clubs and hold a unique position within sport, and thus they are responsible for their players and teams.

 

"We met with more than 160 captains the length and breadth of the country, had some great conversations, excellent engagement and some really interesting discussions and we hope that everybody's managed to take something away from it. 

 

"We are keen for feedback from these sessions, we want to refine and develop them, and we want the captains to contribute to them. What would they like to speak about next time? What would they like to discuss? We would be delighted for our captains to help set the agenda the next time that we do this."

 

A key part of the forum was a video featuring international skippers Kathryn Bryce and Richie Berrington, who discussed their journeys to being named Scotland captain, and analysed the responsibilities that they undertake.

 

 

"I'm hugely grateful to Kathryn and Richie for setting out their stall in relation to captaincy and leadership and what that means to them," said Andrew McDowall.

 

"Every presentation opened with the video which I think beautifully set the scene for why we were there, what we wanted to discuss and the role of captaincy within the sport of cricket, across the world, but more locally and specifically for us in in Scotland.

 

"We are all looking forward to starting the domestic season, we hope everybody enjoys their cricket and we hope that all the captains across Scotland lead their teams with pride and set a high standard for competition and sporting behaviour in the true spirit of cricket."