Kyle Coetzer Steps Down As Scotland Captain After UAE Defeat

Scotland Men’s Cricket Captain Kyle Coetzer stepped down from his Captain duties post his team’s defeat against UAE. The talented batter has had a successful career as the national team’s captain and is now looking forward to getting out of the driver’s seat to enjoy the game he loves while allowing new talent to lead the team through an exciting moment.

His impressive record of success as a player and captain speaks for itself: he was responsible for Scotland’s first-ever World Cup century, has more ODI runs for Scotland than any other player, has more wins than any other Scottish captain, and captained his country to Super 12 qualification for the 2021 T20 World Cup in a watershed moment for Scottish cricket.

Now the ex-captain, Coetzer has 6,843 runs to his name and made history in 2015 when he hit Scotland’s first World Cup century – his 156 against Bangladesh at the time was the greatest score ever by a batter from an associate nation. For Scotland, he has played 214 matches till now, and he led the team in 110 of them.

In the post-match presentation after the match, Coetzer made the announcement as he said, “It’s been an absolute pleasure to lead this group through various stages in our growth and development and captain my country and I will look back on the time with such fondness. I’m extremely proud of where we have got to and I’m even more excited about where this team can go to under its next leader.

“It’s been fantastic to see how the players are managing themselves on the field recently and to effectively have more than one leader out there has been a really positive and encouraging sign for me. It was this that made me feel it was the right time to share my decision and step down.”

According to a press release from Cricket Scotland, Coetzer’s replacement will be named before the team’s next series against Namibia and Nepal in July. In consultation with senior players and the board’s temporary Head of Performance, Toby Bailey, the coaches, led by Shane Burger, will pick who will fill the position.