Scotland aims to end England’s World Cup

If anything, the Scots would prefer having the honour of knocking out England for themselves by beating Australia.

Fans invade the field as Scotland beats England by 6 runs during the One Day International match. Picture: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

It actually took me over an hour to realise it. That the big group occupying multiple tables in the middle of Spinnakers Beach Bar & Grill on Wednesday night, were indeed the Scotland World Cup contingent. Maybe it was the familial feel to their setting with a lot of older gents seated on the main table. Or perhaps I was only paying scant attention to them, considering the sensational view to my left, Rodney Bay shimmering under the bright moon that had lit up the St Lucian sky.

That is until the media manager of the team stood up, gave a quick toast and delivered a passionate and heartwarming rendition of Caledonia. He didn’t go past the first two verses, but it was enough to stir up a lot of emotion and pride among every Scottish man and woman seated around him. The exact kind of reactions Caledonia has invoked in Scots from the time Dougie Maclean penned the lyrics down on a beach in France back in 1977. This folk ballad is an ode to Scotland – I learnt that Caledonia is the Latin name for the country – that has since become an anthem for Scottish pride.

Zimbabwe fans cheer as Scotland's Mark Watt fields on the boundary line. Picture: David Gray/AFP

In that moment, I also realised this is a proud and united Scottish team. And that a lot of us have been guilty of ignoring this aspect while getting sucked into the mind games between Australia and England regarding net run rates – now deemed all but moot after England’s towelling of Oman on Friday morning (AEST time).

The Scots would not have cared very much. Their focus has always been very much on finding a way to beat the Australians in St Lucia on Saturday night local time (Sunday 10.30am AEST), or at least finding a way to qualify for the next round. They didn’t look overawed by the English in Barbados, and they are unlikely to get overwhelmed by all this attention that’s coming their way, If anything, the Scots would prefer having the honour of knocking out England for themselves by beating Australia.

It is also the sentiment I got from the travelling Scottish fans, who I bumped into during transit at Barbados Airport on Wednesday afternoon. It was a long layover, of nearly five hours, after we’d all flown in from Antigua. It wasn’t too difficult to pick them out from the tens of travellers crowding the food court at Grantley Adams International.

Scotland fans cheer their team on batting.

The MacRae family in particular, husband and wife sat proudly showing off their Cricket Scotland shirts. It’s their first time to the Caribbean. And they’re flanked by their son, Cal, who sits in the middle showing off his very impressive mane and flowing beard.

Seated across the table from them are another couple, who upon a bit of prodding, admit having a bit more of a vested interest in Scotland’s progress in the tournament. They are the Tears, and their son Charlie is the reserve wicketkeeper in the squad. I learnt later that night that it was Charlie’s 20th birthday party that I had gatecrashed by the beach in Rodney Bay – unintentionally, of course.

Although they only made plans to come to the Caribbean in March, the MacRaes are no strangers to following their beloved cricket team around the world. They talk with pride about having been at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart in 2022 to watch Scotland pull off an enormous upset by beating the West Indies. There is one major difference, though.

“There were only six of us Scottish fans on that freezing evening in Hobart. That number has already climbed to 50-60 here in the West Indies,” says Papa MacRae.

Cal, who lives in New Zealand, nods away next to them, insisting that his parents had used the “excuse” of meeting him to then jump across the Tasman for the World Cup.

Cal is the standout member of the Scottish fan army, especially when he’s in character in the stands during his team’s matches. You’ll surely see him on TV at some point on Sunday morning, decked out in his kilt, bright pink shirt and glasses, roaring and cheering for every boundary and wicket that goes the Scots’ way.

He talks about being a bit of an odd-one-out growing up in Aberdeen, with a cricket net in is backyard, courtesy his cricket-obsessed father.

Scottish supporters grab hold of Michael Bevan after their group 2 match Scotland v Aust in Worcester at the 1999 World Cup. Picture: David White

The senior MacRae grew up in Ross-shire in the Highlands, a rather odd place for someone to fall in love with cricket.

“I loved my cricket so much that I even tried starting a club in school in the Highlands, but the school master wouldn’t let me. So, I never got to ever play a game of cricket,” he says.

There is a lot of pride in his voice when he talks about how his son ended up playing for his school in Aberdeen, which also housed current wicketkeeper Matthew Cross .

It’s at Lord’s in 1995 that he introduced Test match cricket to his son.

“It was day four of England v West Indies and Cal, who was six, even managed to get an official Brian Lara-autographed jersey. Maybe there were 400 more of those, but we like to believe it was the original one,” Mama MacRae chips in.

Following cricket as closely as they do in Scotland is a bit like being dedicated to an indie rock band. But the senior MacRae takes it upon himself to create as many converts as he can. He’s constantly talking cricket to his clients and is scheduled to take one of them to Lord’s in September to watch England and Australia play an ODI as part of their education.

Like their team though, the Scottish fans’ focus is squarely on the match against Australia at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground. They promise to play their part, being loud and raucous, with Cal leading the charge. Just like they did in Barbados and Antigua, especially when openers Michael Jones and George Munsey were putting the English bowlers to the sword.

This will unfortunately be the last outing for the MacRae family and a majority of the Scottish fans as they return home on Sunday.

“It would be wonderful for Scotland to get into the Super 8s. But you don’t make long-term plans as a Scottish fan,” says Cal.

They are confident, though, that Richie Berrington and his boys will make it through and that there will be many more renditions of Caledonia before the Scotland team leaves these isles. For now, they just have a request as we part ways. “Please ask your Aussies to be nice to us and we can both together knock the English out.”