Kyle Coetzer, a well-known Scotland cricketer, has announced his retirement from T20I cricket with an immediate effect and will no more serve the country in the format. Scotland named a squad for the upcoming New Zealand series, and Coetzer has been included for ODIs only.
Coetzer, who led Scotland in the T20 World Cup 2021, retired from captaincy last month, handing over the post to Richie Berrington. He struggled with the bat throughout the tournament averaging only 12 at a strike rate of 102.43.
He is now eying the coaching posts and feels that some best substitute for the team can be better in its favour. The Scottish player says he would admire spending time with his family from now onwards. His statements read,
"After considered discussions with Cricket Scotland and the head coach, the team would gain more from someone else playing in the upcoming T20 fixtures and the subsequent T20 World Cup. It was a pleasure to take part and lead my country in the previous World Cup and help Scotland qualify for this year. It was a real driving force for me to continue helping the team in any way that I could.
"From a personal point of view, I am looking forward to having a bit more time to spend with my family with two young daughters while also focusing on my coaching career and having more time for that. But ultimately, it is about what is best for the direction of the team going forward."
In his place, Michael Jones will make his T20I debut against New Zealand next week. Jones was the leading run-maker in the recent Vitality T20 Blast, averaging 26.58 with a strike rate of 140.52. He has played eight ODIs between 2018 and 2019.
Scotland have named an 18-member squad to cover their two T20Is and one ODI against New Zealand, comprising the 15 players who were involved in their recent World Cup League Two fixtures plus Jones, Oliver Hairs and Craig Wallace.
Squad: Richie Berrington (captain), Matthew Cross (wk), Kyle Coetzer (ODI only), Ali Evans, Chris Greaves, Oliver Hairs, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Calum MacLeod, Gavin Main, Chris McBridge, George Munsey, Adrian Neill, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Hamza Tahir, Craig Wallace, Mark Watt
Fixtures: July 27 - 1st T20I, July 29 - 2nd T20I, July 31 - Only ODI (all fixtures at The Grange, Edinburgh)
