Kyle Coetzer steps down as Scotland captain

On Friday (3 June 2022), Kyle Coetzer announced that he would be stepping down as Scotland captain after the team’s World Cup Super League Division Two match against UAE. The batter has so far led his country 110 times out of his total 214 appearances. The Scottish opener has scored 4372 International runs so far in his career.  

During his tenure as captain, Scotland enjoyed some historic moments. In 2021, he led them to the main round of the T20 World Cup. As an individual batter, he smashed Scotland’s first-ever century in the ODI World Cup by scoring 156 against Bangladesh in 2015. However, he announced that this might be the right time for him to step away from this position for another player to take over.

It was the right time to share my decision: Kyle Coetzer

Coetzer 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 with where this team can go 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,” the 38-year-old added. 

Scotland Cricket, in an official statement, stated that the next captain of the side will be announced before the next series in July, against Nepal and Namibia. Team coaches will decide Coetzer’s successor by consulting further with the Board’s interim Head of Performance, Toby Bailey.

Kyle Coetzer shared that his main focus would be to score as many runs as possible for his country in the coming days under a new leader. “My biggest driving force over years has been to help the team have everything they need and lead them in every way I can. Moving forward I have no desire to stop playing and will be giving everything I have to my fellow players and the next captain – going out and scoring as many runs as I possibly can for Scotland remains the focus,” he concluded.