Scotland’s wily Majid Haq eyes taking the scalp of faltering England

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/21/scotland-england-cricket-world-cup-majid-haq

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Majid Haq does not need the numeracy skills he acquired in his former life as an accountant to work out the equation should England lose their third successive match of this World Cup against Scotland on Sunday night.

The brutal defeat at the hands of a rampant New Zealand in Wellington on Friday means England have little time to piece together their shattered confidence before their next match, against the auld enemy at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval. Another loss for a team shorn of dignity after twin thrashings by co-hosts Australia and New Zealand would mean almost certain elimination from the tournament.

It is that pressure Majid, Scotland’s most-capped player with 205 appearances, hopes to take advantage of. “Everyone knows about the rivalry between Scotland and England so it’s a game we’re definitely targeting,” says the 32-year-old spinner. “Out of the four big sides we play, England are the weakest at the moment so it’s a great chance for us.

“The pressure will be on the four big sides in each group to qualify for the quarter-finals. If they don’t there will be massive repercussions for them.”

Scotland have every right to fancy their chances given they put on a far more convincing performance than England in losing to New Zealand in Dunedin last Tuesday, scoring more runs (142 versus 123) and taking more wickets (seven as opposed to two).

What will also worry England is that Scotland will have valuable inside knowledge thanks to the presence of Paul Collingwood in their coaching ranks. The Durham batsman, who captained England to their only win at a global tournament, the 2010 World Twenty20, is an invaluable resource given he has worked with many of the current squad.

“Paul worked with England as recently as April last year at the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh so he’ll know a lot of the players,” says Majid. “Colly is a very smart cricketer, he’s pretty experienced and he knows his stuff.”

Having made his Scotland debut nine years ago, Majid, a wily off-spinner who needs one more scalp to become his country’s all-time leading wicket-taker, has travelled an interesting road to get to this point. “I’ve been full-time for six years now and it’s helped my game a lot,” he says. “I was working as an accountant so it was hard to balance both. Going full-time has helped me concentrate totally on cricket.

“Accountancy’s a good profession and cricket in Scotland is a little uncertain, but with the World Cup it’s great to be able to focus on this and accountancy is definitely something I could go back to when my cricket is finished.”

Majid’s Pakistani heritage means he not only grew up helping out as a waiter in his father’s curry house in Glasgow but also idolising Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. “We had a restaurant for 35 years but my dad has given it up now and is happily retired,” he says. “He came over from Pakistan to Keighley in Yorkshire when he was about 10 and moved up to Glasgow in the early 70s.

“I used to help a lot in the restaurant over the weekends and I enjoyed it a bit too much to be honest and put on a lot of weight. Thankfully he retired when I started playing professionally.

“Cricket came more from my uncles than my dad. They played club cricket and that’s how I got involved. It would have been great for my family if we’d played Pakistan in the groups but maybe we can play them in the quarter-finals.”

The last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, 23 years ago, was the tournament that helped Majid fall in love with the game, with Pakistan’s victory in the final against England a seminal moment for him. “We were all watching it at the family house at 5am,” he says. “It was great when Pakistan won the final against England. I always supported Pakistan.

“The family will be watching us play against England. It won’t matter what time it is and they will celebrate even more than they did when Pakistan won the cup if we beat them.”

As for the wider topic of cricket in Scotland, Majid is bullish about the game’s popularity. “There’s definitely a lot of interest in Scotland now,” he says. “Some good performances here will raise interest even more. There’s a lot of interest in the three big cities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It’s the second most-played sport in Scotland behind football, even more than rugby, which surprises people.”

A first World Cup win for Scotland in their third tournament might surprise people too. Yet given England’s performances, it would not be completely out of the blue.