Wright sidelined yet again

Craig Wright after Scotland's victory in last year's ICC Intercontinental Cup final © ICC

Craig Wright must be starting to suspect that he is destined never to tackle the Australians. The Scottish captain wasn't in the team for the 1997 meeting with Mark Waugh's star-studded line-up at the Grange, he missed out on selection for his country's maiden World Cup match against the baggy-green brigade at Worcester's New Road ground two years later, and now, a broken finger in his right hand has ruled him out of the eagerly-anticipated international tussle against Ricky Ponting's tourists in Edinburgh on Thursday. Little wonder, therefore, that Wright, normally an ebullient Panglossian character, should struggle to put a brave face on a setback, which further weakens the Scots, who have already been deprived of the services of their county personnel.

"It happened on Saturday when we were trying to capture the last Irish wicket [in Aberdeen] and I went for a caught-and-bowled chance, and got struck on the hand. It didn't affect me that badly when I was batting, and I took pain-killers to enable me to stay involved in the match, but I have had a scan, the diagnosis was bad, and I am definitely out of the Aussie fixture, which is pretty frustrating," said Wright with commendable understatement yesterday. "Of course I am gutted, and it's incredibly disappointing, but these things are an occupational hazard in sport, and far worse things happen to other people, so my injury isn't any huge deal in the grand scheme. The fact is that we have to concentrate on the people who are actually playing, and Ryan Watson, who will skipper the side in my absence, is a terrific motivator, he has stepped into the role before, and I will be there watching and hoping that we can be competitive. I'm not a great spectator, and it might hit home what has happened when the boys run out on the pitch to the sound of "Flower of Scotland", but let's focus on the positives and put the spotlight on what should be one of the biggest occasions in our cricket history."

As somebody whose consistency and commitment have been ever-present features of the Saltires' labours in the National League, Wright isn't so naïve as to pretend that the hosts will be anything other than massive underdogs when they confront the reigning world champions, whose stuttering Ashes campaign, allied to their previous loss against Bangladesh in Cardiff, has merely heightened the expectation that there will be little of the jolly camaraderie and social niceties in evidence which have typified past encounters between these two nations. Although there is scant prospect of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne or Brett Lee being involved, the Australians have confirmed they intend to field the majority of their frontline batsmen, including Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist (the latter pair of whom will be awarded with commemorative medals, celebrating their stint at Perthshire in the early 1990s), so it seems almost inevitable that, without the likes of Wright, Dougie Brown and John Blain, the Scottish attack will be confronted with the biggest challenge of their careers.

In which light, Wright is sufficiently candid to admit that the possibility of a thrashing lurks in the ether. "Let's be honest, the gulf between the teams is massive and there's no disguising that fact. In the last decade, these Australians have hammered infinitely better opponents than us, and it is similar to Scotland v Brazil in football. Namely that if the latter perform to their full potential, they would win comfortably, and anybody can get rolled over by the best on the planet," said Wright. "Basically, we can't go into this game, worrying about what they might do, because these are exactly the kind of matches which we have been striving for in our pursuit of ODI status, and it is up to us to step onto the park, soak up the atmosphere which will be generated by a capacity [4500] crowd, and demonstrate the improvements we have made since the World Cup in 1999.

"To be honest, we didn't take full advantage of the spin-offs from appearing in that tournament and we can't afford to repeat that mistake, because there is a huge buzz around the country at the moment, some of it generated by what has been a terrific Ashes series, some of it as a consequence of us winning the ICC Trophy last month, and we have to maximise our opportunities for exposure while the sport is etched in folks' consciousness and do our utmost to bring it into the mainstream. Naturally, if we are beaten heavily by the Aussies, it will be a reality check, but although they are ranked 1st in the world and are packed to the rafters with superstars, whilst we are 12th and comprised mostly of amateurs who are unknown outside Scotland, strange things can occur in these kind of limited-overs tussles. I was down in Cardiff when the Bangladeshis defeated the Australians and, believe me, they thoroughly deserved their success.

"Ultimately, what I don't want - and this applies to the rest of the lads - is a bounce game, lacking in intensity or a genuine competitive edge. But, with several of the leading Australians having trouble finding their best form, and others who are keen to stake their claim for selection, I don't think they will take it easy for an instant. These days have gone forever. Now we have to grasp the chance and savour the moment."

One only wishes that Wright and Brown were participating, but the former will be assisting the BBC in the pundit's chair and the latter will be surveying the action from the sponsor's tent. We simply have to trust that the Australians bat first.