SCOTLAND'S cricket team are going ahead with a tour to South Africa in
March even though full financing as not yet been tied up. It will be the
first visit to the republic by a Scottish team in any sport for more
than 20 years, writes Bill McMurtrie.
Chris Carruthers, the Scottish Cricket Union's chairman, said in
Glasgow yesterday that the SCU are looking for grants and sponsorship.
''I think we have
a marketable product,'' he suggested.
Seeking expert guidance, the SCU have appointed the Carnegie
Partnership as marketing and fund-raising advisers, and yesterday the
union and the Edinburgh-based sports management company announced a
two-pronged sponsorship package. The SCU will not only be making the
national team available for sponsorship but the union have also launched
''Player '92'', a scheme which will directly benefit the playing members
of the tour squad.
Income from the scheme will be used specifically to minimise the
players' tour costs. Without financial backing, each of the 14 players
would have to pay about #600 to make the trip.
Applications for grants have gone into the Scottish Sports Council and
the Foundation for Sport and the Arts. The latter are to announce their
second batch of awards on Friday.
In the foundation's first hand-out during the summer, #6m was
disbursed. Not a penny, however, came to sport north of the Border from
the money gleaned from the tax on football pools, and the SCU are
banking on more favourable treatment for Scotland this time.
''The tour will, we believe, be the first by a national cricket side
since cricketing links with South Africa were re-established and the
first visit by a Scottish national team in any sport for over 20
years,'' Carruthers said.
It will also give the Scottish squad a sound platform for next season,
particularly the Benson and Hedges Cup matches. Scotland will play
against Hampshire, Lancashire, Essex, and Northamptonshire in that
competition, and the chairman explained that the Scots need an overseas
tour as preparation when those four fixtures are within the first three
weeks of the domestic season.
Four officials will be going with the 14 players on the tour. Hugh
Stevenson, the SCU's vice-chairman from Drumpellier, will be manager,
and he will be accompanied by Ralph Laing, the union's incoming
president from Perthshire, Jim Roberts, the former Clydesdale and
Scotland bowler who is now a national selector, and Neil Leitch
(scorer). Laing's twin brother, Gavin, who works for a South African
hotel chain, has been helping to organise the tour.
George Reifer, the former Uddingston professional who has now signed
for Ayrshire, is among the 14 players named yesterday for the tour. So
is Bruce Patterson, though he is without a club after two seasons with
Glasgow Academicals. Two other established caps, however, were
unavailable -- Peter Duthie because of business, and Alastair Storie
because of studies at Oxford University.
Omar Henry, the SCU's professional, who is currently at home in South
Africa, also is in the squad, though whether he can join them in
Johannesburg will depend on his commitments in South African cricket,
including the World Cup. Henry has told the SCU that he is on the verge
of the South African team.
No captain has been named. A decision on that honour will be made once
Henry's availability has been clarified.
Scotland will play three two-day matches and four one-day games,
including one under the flooodlights at Centurian Park, Pretoria's new
cricket stadium. The strength of the opposition is not known, though the
chairman expressed his hope that the South Africans would ''look on us
as the equivalent of an English county.'' Tour squad:
M J de G Allingham (Heriot's FP), A Bee (Aberdeenshire), D Cowan
(Freuchie), J Govan (Carlton), D J Haggo (Ayrshire), O Henry (West
Lothian), J D Moir (Aberdeen GS FP), B M W Patterson (unattached), I L
Philip (Stenhousemuir), G Reifer (Ayrshire), A B Russell (Clydesdale), G
Salmond (Arbroath County), K L P Sheridan (Poloc), R G Swan (Carlton).
Tour itinerary: March 20 -- v Jimmy Cook XI (at Rand Afrikaans
University, Johannesburg); 21-22 -- v Transvaal Universities (at RAU);
23 -- Day-night match v Anton Ferreira XI (at Centurian Park, Pretoria);
24 -- v Wilf Isaacs XI (at Johannesburg Country Club); 25 -- v Kent Park
Taverners (venue to be arranged); 26-27 -- v Transvaal under-23 (at
Wanderers, Johannesburg); 28-29 -- v Northern Transvaal League (at Berea
Park, Pretoria).
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