Great Scot Boost

Today, The chief executive of the Scottish Cricket Board (SCB), Gwynne Jones, may well shut the gates at The Grange in Edinburgh, where Scotland take on Hampshire. 'It won't make much difference,' he says. 'They will only hop over the wall.'

There are 1,500 seats at The Grange and room for a further 500 or so to stand and stare. And so far this season they have been staring, usually with disbelief. Today's fixture could have been a top-of-the- table clash - if only Hampshire had been playing better.

The Saltires sit proudly in second place in the second division of the National League. The TV cameras will be in Edinburgh and so will their exalted overseas player, India's vice-captain Rahul Dravid, who makes his debut, if selected. The Scots will have to change a winning team to give him a game.

Scotland have had an astonishing start in their first season against the counties in the 45-over competition. Even their bowling coach Mike Hendrick, once of Derbyshire and England, reckoned before the season that amateurs beat pros about once every 250 times. Well, so far Scotland have recorded three victories in five matches, one of which was washed out when they had the upper hand against Middlesex.

At the beginning of May they beat Durham by four wickets at the Riverside, where Majid Haq, a tad overweight perhaps for a 19-year-old but a gifted off-spinner none the less, took four wickets. Their victory against Somerset was, of course, freakish. Ryan Watson, who had briefly been coached by Jones at prep school in Zimbabwe (along with future Zimbabwe players Craig Wishart, Stuart Carlisle and Trevor Gripper) hit 103 not out from 44 balls in a weather-hit 15-over match. Best of all Lancashire, who had Stuart Law and Carl Hooper to bolster their middle order, were trounced by 41 runs at Old Trafford. One victory can be dismissed as a careless lapse by the counties; three demand the Scots be taken seriously.

The exploits of the Scottish cricket team have provoked some red faces north of the border, not all as a consequence of vigorous celebration of their victories. In the winter, Sport Scotland withdrew promised contributions that were vital to the team's participation in the National League, switching their emphasis from team sports to individual disciplines that would bring medals. They also, unbelievably, wanted assurance that Scotland would be in with a chance of making the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2007 (bear in mind England have not gone that far since 1992). And they thought it might be a good idea to play their matches in a football stadium.

When the money dried up, one option was for the SCB to withdraw the team from the National League. 'John Carr at the English Cricket Board had been sympathetic and suggested we should delay our entry. But I was against that,' says Jones. 'I'd been in a similar situation in Zimbabwe [Jones was recruited to run the national academy where there was a similar shortfall of cash, but he insisted the project went ahead] and I had to be straight with our players.

'The intention had been to give contracts, in the region of £13,000 each for eight of them. But I had to say: "Sorry, guys, the choices are pull out or play for nothing." They wanted to play and I guess that setback was a binding experience. When their backs are to the wall, the Scots are impressive.'

Despite the team's success, Sport Scotland have yet to relent, although some individuals have started to put their hands in their pockets, such as Jim Lepick, a benefactor who has contributed £10,000 towards playing costs. A shirt sponsorship of £25,000 has just been announced and a few companies are starting to 'sponsor' the team by giving paid leave to players. For example, Colin Smith, a 6ft 5in wicketkeeper who hit 60 against Lancashire, now has 28 days of paid leave from the Post Office.

Plus, they can still afford David - probably. The SCB had to underwrite the Indian's salary, but it is expected that fund-raising among Scotland's Asian community, most of whom spring from Pakistan, will cater for his wages. Dinners and coaching clinics have been arranged with enthusiasm. In addition, Ian Botham, who likes his trips to Scotland to fish or play golf, has agreed to be their patron.

David was recruited by Jones at the Headingley Test last year and says that the idea of playing for Scotland appeals to him. He did not want to play the volume of cricket required as an overseas player in the county game, but a restricted program of 12 one-day matches was ideal. David may be a superstar, but he is also reliable, the sort of man who will satisfy the demands of the Asian community that backed him.

He joins Jon Kent, the other overseas pro. Kent is a South African who played two one-day internationals in 2002. The other foreign influence is the Australian Tony Judd, who has coached in Tasmania and whom Jones describes as a 'charismatic' character, strong on motivation. So it seems.

The Saltires are not talking about promotion yet, but they hope that their experience in the National League will help Scotland to qualify for the next World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007. They might attain one-day international status, like Kenya. And it would be nice to have the finances to be able to compensate their players in 2004.

Dravid's arrival is a huge boost, but so far the amateurs have prevailed: Watson, Haq, Smith, whom David Graveney once inquired about; Craig Wright is a canny captain, while Ian Stanger is as rapid as anyone in the field. Hampshire will be taking nothing for granted today.