Downsizing of teams for the next World Cup is an issue troubling Scotland captain Preston Mommsen
Scotland's impressive performance in their World Cup match against Bangladesh on Thursday added further fuel to the debate over the International Cricket Council's decision to reduce the 2019 World Cup to 10 teams from the current 14, which has attracted a great deal of criticism.
Scotland lost the game by six wickets, but they were certainly impressive.
Kyle Coetzer's scored a superb 156, the first World Cup century by a Scotland batsman at Saxton Oval in Nelson, as his side posted an impressive 318 for eight, their highest total against a Test nation.
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Bangladesh, however, never really looked concerned as they achieved 322 for four with 11 balls remaining.
But that result is not what is bothering Scotland captain Preston Mommsen.
There is another issue that is. He believes the real concern was getting more matches to ensure they could improve their game.
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Scotland played 24 matches between the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, with just four of those against Test nations.
"For me what is even more important is what happens in between every World Cup and the fixtures that are made available to associate nations and the ... amount of cricket they're playing at a high quality level," he said.
"Because at the moment, it's quite clearly not enough."
Mommsen was reluctant to suggest Scotland may have had their final chance to secure their first World Cup victory on Thursday after they had let it slip against Afghanistan in their previous match, but the issue of cutting the tournament back needed to be re-addressed.
"We knew today was a huge opportunity for us," he said.
"A lot of discussions need to be had and the right decisions need to be made because at the moment I don't think people are making the right decisions in terms of associate cricket.
"If you're focusing on a World Cup, it's a World Cup, it's a world tournament, so it should include teams from all over the world.
"I don't think it should be called a World Cup if you're cutting down the teams even more."
Going back to the match, Mommsen reckoned that Scotland would take heart from Coetzer's impressive 156 in their six-wicket loss to Bangladesh on Thursday, but their lack of experience had counted against them.
Mommsen said it was playing fewer games that highlighted the difference in experience between the two sides.
"The Bangladeshi team all together have played hundreds and hundreds of ODIs whereas we've played a handful of ODIs together," he told reporters in Nelson.
"So that, of course, comes into it, experience and handling and managing that chase. That showed that they've done that before and they went through the gears very well."
Image: Preston Mommsen of Scotland fields
Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty Images
