Blain aiming for upset

John Blain has played in 25 one-day matches for Scotland

Despite having limited Twenty20 experience, Scotland's John Blain is desperately looking forward to being part of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20.

Scotland and Kenya qualified for the tournament by virtue of the World Cricket League in Nairobi in February, in which they were finalists.

The former Northamptonshire and Yorkshire fast bowler was part of that successful team and has been chosen to represent his country once more in the Twenty20 competition.

“We went to the World Cricket League and we played against Ireland, Canada, Holland and all the associate nations,” he told ecb.co.uk.

“Eventually we played Kenya in the final and the two that got to the final were the two who went to the Twenty20 World Cup. It was a successful little trip.”

The matches played in the World Cricket League were 50-over contests and Blain admits that Scotland have very little Twenty20 experience to call upon.

“Personally I’ve not played a great deal,” he added. “As a team we have played a handful of matches, but they have been more reduced matches in the Friends Provident. It will probably be a disadvantage.

“We have a couple of warm-up matches against Zimbabwe and Balngladesh so they will probably be of huge importance to us to try to find our feet and try to find a style of play that works for us.

Twenty20 preparation has been minimal for Scotland

“We have not done a great deal of preparation at all. We have just finished our season with a a game against India - a one-dayer - and we are just straight into it.”

Scotland play India again in the group stage of the World Twenty20, alongside Pakistan, and Blain thinks that the Indians will have a slight edge over their rivals.

“They will have just finished seven ODIs against England and will have that back up of a high volume of cricket,” he said.

“We have got a decent number of practice sessions organised and two warm-up matches as well, which I think will be enough. But I don’t think anything can compensate for playing in an actual competition.”

Scotland fly out to South Africa on September 5, giving them a week in South Africa before the tournament starts, as they aim for a better showing than they gave in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

“We have obviously got that chance to acclimatise to local circumstances and local conditions and it’s a great opportunity for us to get back on the horse,” Blain admitted.

“We didn’t perform well in our World Cup ‘final’, which was against Holland and that was a huge disappointment. We didn’t do ourselves justice.

"It means a lot, and if we can perform well and maybe create an upset in South Africa then that will do wonders for cricket in Scotland."

Blain made his one-day debut in the World Cup in 1999

Blain has been playing one-day internationals for Scotland since the 1999 World Cup and is the most experienced of their 15-man squad, with 25 matches behind him.

“The interest in cricket is gradually becoming greater,” the 28-year-old said. “I’ve seen it in the last eight years.

“Hopefully with this Twenty20 being the most commercialised aspect of the game now, it will do cricket in Scotland the power of good.”

He would also like to see Scotland incorporated into the English domestic Twenty20 Cup competition, to give them more chances to experience the exciting new format.

“Why not? Absolutely,” he said. “It would be good for the progression of the game on both sides of the border.

“People will sit down and watch it with each innings only being an hour and a half, and it should grab the attention of the public.”

Blain picks out his captain Ryan Watson as somebody who might have a good Twenty20 tournament for Scotland.

“He can be explosive and it suits his type of game. In the reduced 21-over match against Lancashire at Old Trafford earlier in the year I think Ryan got 60-odd then and batted well,” he said.

“Gregor Maiden has come back into the set-up after being out for a long time. He hits the ball nicely and cleanly and is one to look out for.”

Blain is also mindful of the part spin has played in the Twenty20 Cup, saying: “I don’t think you can rule out the option of Majid Haq’s off-spin. And Ross Lyons with some left-arm spin might cause a few upsets.”

Asked who was likely to win the tournament, Blain hedged his bets.

“I think it is very difficult to say ‘they will do well’, but I think you can’t rule out the Australians purely and simply because they don’t leave any stone unturned,” he said. “They will have a faultless technique and a plan about how they will go about every match.

“Even in the volatile world of Twenty20, if you plan and execute those plans, you will succeed.”