Scotland officials have branded the ICC's qualification rules "ridiculous" after one of their players was barred from taking part in an Under-19 World Cup qualifier.
Ruaidhri Smith was born in Glasgow and played for Scotland at last summer's U19 World Cup – he also made his senior Saltires debut earlier this season – but the Glamorgan all-rounder has been deemed ineligible for next month's tie from which the Scots hope to reach the 2014 World Cup. Bizarrely, if Scotland qualify, Smith will then be eligible to play.
Roddy Smith, chief executive of Cricket Scotland, said: "This rule is ridiculous. The U19 qualifier is rated a development event by the ICC so players must meet certain criteria, including a requirement to have played a percentage of cricket in their domestic leagues. Ruaidhri couldn't do that as his family moved to England when he was very young. "We applied for an 'exceptional circumstances' exemption on the basis that Ruaidhri has already represented Scotland at last year's U19 World Cup, and the ICC acknowledged this, but basically told us 'rules are rules'."
Ironically, South African-born Kyle Stirling, who only arrived in the country in January, is eligible, because he has Scottish parents.
Smith added: "I think the ICC realise there are anomalies in their qualification rules. We don't think the development criteria should apply to a player who was born in the country. It is also ridiculous that different eligibility rules apply to the qualifying event and the World Cup itself."
An ICC spokeswoman said: "As per the ICC's player eligibility regulations, the development criteria apply to a range of ICC development events. Therefore only players that meet the development criteria [as well as the core criteria that all players in all events must meet] can participate in the upcoming ICC Europe U19 Regional Qualifier. Although Mr Smith played for Scotland in the U19 World Cup in 2012, he does not meet the development criteria and therefore is unable to participate in this regional qualifier."
Craig Wright, coach of Scotland U19s, said: "We just have to make sure we qualify for the main tournament. We have lots of quality players who are capable of doing that."
n During today's lunch break in the Lord's test, Sky Sports will show a feature charting the historic rivalry between Clydesdale and Ferguslie.
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