Scotland appoint Stevie Gilmour as interim head coach for UAE tour

Stevie Gilmour has been confirmed as Scotland interim head coach for the duration of their tour to United Arab Emirates.

Cricket Scotland announced earlier this month that Gilmour, Moneeb Iqbal and Andy McKay would oversee the coaching on the tour as it continued to interview for a permanent successor to Shane Burger.

Scotland face four ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 fixtures against Canada and the UAE, followed by three T20 internationals against the hosts.

Gilmour has been part of Scotland’s coaching set-up for several years, working under Burger and previous interim Doug Watson, as well as being head coach of the Eastern Knights in the Regional Pro Series. He is also director of cricket at Carlton Cricket Club in Edinburgh.

Burger stepped down as head coach in February last year to take up a role at Somerset and Watson was appointed interim head coach, leading the successful ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier campaign last summer.

Cricket Scotland head of performance Steve Snell said: “I’m really happy that Stevie will lead the side in the UAE.

“When I was appointed, I was conscious that it was really important to have someone at the helm for this tour who has an excellent understanding of Scottish cricket, as well as having good experience of working within this playing squad over a long period of time.

“The players haven’t played competitively together since last July, and it’s really important to have a working knowledge of those within the squad.

“As such, Stevie, in conjunction with Moneeb Iqbal and Andy McKay who worked with the squad in the last series, have been running the training programme ahead of this trip to UAE.

“While the search for a new permanent men’s head coach is nearing a fruitful end, I’m delighted that Stevie can take the reins for the side in Dubai, build on the hard work that the players have been doing in training during the winter and take this into the match play environment.”

Scotland will play two warm-up games against the UAE before their first CWCL2 game against Canada on March 1.