 Craig Wright thinks Scotland should win the ICC trophy |
Scotland's cricket coach Andy Moles says qualification for the 2007 World Cup is vital for the future progress of the sport in Scotland. Cricket Scotland has received �270,000 funding from Sportscotland, a sum Moles believes will help provide the infrastructure for improvement.
"If we qualify, we'd hopefully get more sponsorship to allow us to get players on full-time and part-time contracts.
"The more they can practice, the quicker they will improve," he said.
In order to qualify for the World Cup, Scotland must finish among the top five at this year's ICC Trophy in Ireland.
But captain Craig Wright has loftier ambitions.
"Our objective is to win the ICC, although obviously our single most important objective is just to qualify for the World Cup," he said.
"It will be difficult as we are in the tougher of the two qualifying groups, but if we play anywhere near our best, we should do it."
Moles is also confident the Scots can achieve that goal.
"Test cricket is probably a long way off for us," admitted Moles.
"But I think we are probably on a par with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe - around about 10th in the world.
"We can only prove that by playing these teams though and if we qualify for the World Cup we'll become a fully-fledged one-day international team.
"We're probably officially about 13th or 14th in the world and if we start playing one-day internationals, we can start getting points to improve our standing."
MMIX
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