OF the 240 cricketers from 16 countries who will gather in the United Arab Emirates this week to compete in the ICC WT20 qualifier only Scotland's Richie Berrington holds the distinction of having scored a century in an official T20 international.
It is a proud boast which came as a result of a magnificent performance in which the Greenock batsman almost single-handedly destroyed Bangladesh last year.
The effort put Berrington in exalted company as only eight other players have achieved the feat, including such global luminaries as Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan and, most recently, Australia's Aaron Finch who memorably struck against the English attack for a world record 156 in August.
However, it should not be forgotten that Berrington's opening partner, Calum MacLeod, also has a three-figure score to his name in the short form of the game.
MacLeod's effort came in last year's ultimately unsuccessful T20 World Cup qualifying campaign at the Sharjah Stadium where the Scots will launch this year's bid against Bermuda on Friday.
It is perhaps the former Warwickshire player's misfortune that his innings came against Oman in a match not recognised as an official T20 international.
MacLeod, though, is an equal member in a potent partnership which is one of Scotland's strengths, the pair having become a fixture at the top of the order, frequently providing the sort of fast starts which are essential in this format of the game.
"Richie and I have developed a real understanding over the last couple of years and I think we feed off each other," said MacLeod. "Either of us is capable of making a big score on any given day and his ton against Bangladesh was one of the most incredible innings I have seen.
"It was actually me who made the faster start that day but when I got out I was able to watch Richie take them apart. The way he just stood there and hit some top quality spinners out of the ground was truly amazing.
"I'm proud of my own 100 at T20 level and I suppose it is a bit of a pity that the game didn't have official status but I guess that sums up the way international cricket is set up. It seems as if Associate cricket doesn't matter much to people in the higher echelons.
"But we have to use that as a motivation to qualify for World Cups and when we get there to take a few scalps off the big boys. That is the only way to make people take us seriously."
MacLeod, 24, is one of just three survivors from the 2009 World Cup - along with skipper Kyle Coetzer and spinner Majid Haq - and he is hungry for another taste of the big time in Bangladesh in the spring.
It could be a tortuous route with seven group games followed by an extended series of cross-over games before the six qualifiers are determined. To be sure of going through, the Scots need to finish top of a group in which their main rivals are Afghanistan and the Netherlands. However, even if they finish as low as fifth they could still carve out a path to the finals.
MacLeod added: "Facing Afghanistan looks like our toughest match - they get a big following in Sharjah and it is like a home game to them. But every game in T20 is hard and we have to be switched on every time we take the field.
"Playing in the 2009 World Cup in England was an amazing experience and we have a really determined group here who want to play on the world stage."
Scotland squad: K Coetzer capt, R Berrington, C MacLeod, M Machan, N Carter, R Taylor, D Murphy, G Goudie, M Haq, S Sharif, I Wardlaw, M Cross, M Leask, C Wallace, M Iqbal.
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