Matthew Cross eager to face England again after Scotland’s T20 World Cup tie

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Louise Thomas

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Scotland vice-captain Matthew Cross hopes his side’s T20 World Cup date with England leads to more matches between the nations and is “waiting for the invitation to Lord’s”.

It has been six long years since England last agreed to face their fellow Britons, a famous win for the Scots as they defied cricketing gravity to take a stand-alone one-day international by six runs in Edinburgh.

There has been no offer of repeat in the intervening period, during which the England and Wales Cricket Board has found time in its schedule for two Tests, seven ODIs and a T20 against Ireland.

Thrown together at last in Barbados, where both sides will kick off their Group B campaign on Tuesday, Cross said it felt “incredible” that they had never before met in the 20-over format and used the occasion to lobby for more chances.

“I think it’s a really exciting opportunity for us as an associate nation to get to play England. Although we’re very close to England, we don’t seem to play them very often,” he said.

“We’ve got great memories from the last time we played them so to get to play them at a World Cup is pretty special. I’m waiting for the invitation to Lord’s to go and play them.

“Hopefully on the back of this maybe we’ll get one, but look this is an awesome opportunity for our guys and really a chance for us to go out and show what we’re all about.”

Cross is one of several survivors from the 2018 match in the Scottish squad, scoring a rapid 48 at the top of the order to set the tone for a day of defiance from the underdogs.

He looks back on that time with fondness and insists there is no reason lightning cannot strike twice.

“It was just such a good day. There was pure emotion after getting across the line,” he said.

“The sun was out in Scotland, there was a full house and the most pleasing thing for me is England played a really good game of cricket as well.

“I think that sometimes gets lost because we won but I think they were exceptional on the day. We were just a little bit better.

“I don’t think anyone’s really been talking about it but it’s there in the back of the memory that we’ve done this before, beaten teams like England, so it’s a confidence booster.

“It takes one or two individuals to have their best day. That’s the sort of the message we send: if you have your best day, we’re going to be pretty close to winning the game.”