BERRINGTON REFLECTS ON WORLD CUP NEAR MISSES
As Scotland’s men bowed out of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Tuesday, captain Richie Berrington was left pondering what might have been after a narrow defeat to Nepal in Mumbai.
Tuesday’s seven-wicket loss meant the Scots finished with just one victory in four games, against Italy, but Berrington feels that was scant reward for the efforts of his team, especially considering they were called into the tournament at short notice with little preparation time.
“It’s just been an incredible experience for us,” said Berrington. “We absolutely loved our time in Kolkata, and to play three matches at Eden Gardens and then the final one in front of a fantastic crowd in Mumbai was wonderful and will be hugely positive for this group of players as we move forward.
“Given the preparation time that we had, I’m really pleased with how we competed across the four games. There’s frustration for sure, because we obviously saw this as a great opportunity, and in three games we got ourselves into a really strong position but weren’t able to close the game out.
“Perhaps that lack of match time showed itself in those crucial moments, and had we taken those games a little bit deeper, we could’ve been on the right side of a few results.”
Several other non-Test playing nation teams besides Scotland and Nepal have impressed during the tournament, leading to calls for more opportunities for lower ranked sides to play against Test-playing nations, as well as a review of cricket’s global funding model – thoughts echoed by Berrington.
“It’s fantastic to have been part of another 20-team World Cup, and there’s no surprise that nations like us have shown what they can do on the world stage. For us, we just need more exposure to this – playing the big teams more often is only going to make us better.
“We know we can compete at that level, so it’s just about having those opportunities now. We’ve absolutely loved playing in India, and we’d love to come back at some point.”