SEVEN DAYS, TWO WORLD CUPS: A DEFINING MOMENT FOR CRICKET IN SCOTLAND
Media release
In the space of just a few remarkable days, Scotland swiftly moved from no World Cups to two.
First, there was the call-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, then qualification for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 to cap a whirlwind week.
“Seven days, two World Cups; I think we’ll get to write about the story one day,” said Cricket Scotland CEO Trudy Lindblade, a few days removed from working out the logistics of sending a team to an ICC event two weeks from its start.
Their unique position came after the withdrawal of Bangladesh from the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, with the ICC working closely with Lindblade and her team to quickly arrange visas, travel, accommodation, training facilities and more.
“We had to do seven to nine months of planning in literally less than seven days. And that’s no mean feat when there are 19 other teams the ICC is also dealing with, but when there’s a will, there’s a way,” Lindblade said.
“I think after the tournament, when we can sit back and reflect on what we've done, everybody should feel really proud of themselves for what we collectively have achieved in seven days. To have everyone that we selected in the side and all our team management going to India to compete in a World Cup is simply incredible.”
As it stands, there has been little time for reflection, with Scotland’s women booking their place in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 mere days later in Nepal. They will now head to this summer’s tournament in England with a major opportunity to showcase the national team to a global audience right on their doorstep in the UK.
Combined with the men’s team’s ongoing participation in India and Sri Lanka, that opportunity is sizeable, and Lindblade is confident that additional resources and exposure will lead to a boon for cricket’s development in Scotland.
Lindblade said: “This enables us to do some of the things that we haven't previously been able to do, because we do get the qualifying grant for that for the men and the women, and they are there to help you prepare for those World Cups.
“But it's not just that. It's also about getting people talking about Scottish cricket. We can use Scottish cricket to reach people who might not have engaged with us previously, who can now because they can actually picture it. We can point them towards the World Cup. We can point them towards the broadcast and online channels.
“So, it's that engagement piece. It's not just about what's happening on the field at the highest level. How do we amplify that back through the business? We've been thinking about that, and certainly the women's qualification will now give us a double opportunity to do that. And then that World Cup being in England is brilliant for us, especially with the Netherlands and Ireland qualifying from Europe too, there's so many wonderful stories we can tell.”
At the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, Scotland became the ninth Associate Nation in the tournament, while they and the Netherlands will fly the flag for the Associates at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Lindblade is delighted to see such representation and visibility of ICC’s Associate Members on cricket’s most global stages, saying: “We encourage that opportunity for Associate Members to play on the world stage and to be competing against those Full Members. Nine Associates in a T20 World Cup is a great step forward for cricket.
“We're getting people talking more about the global game and entering growth markets such as Europe, Africa and Asia. It means better representation, and if we want to grow the global game and we want to do that together as members of the ICC, then this is what has to happen.”