A WEEK out from the start of the domestic club season in Scotland and spring is only now making an appearance. This is a problem for the likes of Prestwick skipper Shahzad Rafiq, although for the man who led the Ayrshire club to both the Western Premier championship and Grand Final success against Heriot’s, there are equally pressing issues across Scottish cricket in general.

“Outdoor practice has mostly been just a waste of time,” says Rafiq, who has been trying to prepare for their league opener against Stirling County. “The last few weeks have been a joke and we only had our first outdoor session last Tuesday. And it was freezing. It just is what it is when you play cricket in Scotland. You just deal with it.

“The most important thing is trying to feel positive with the bat and the ball – and feel warm. But it typifies how mad keen we are to play cricket and especially this summer, after everything the Scottish national team did over the winter.”

Given Prestwick’s 2017 campaign, Rafiq says that while he and his team-mates might still adopt an “underdog” mentality, they will be the side to beat for the majority.

“I suppose from the outset others will have a higher expectation of us, but, we are quite a grounded set of individuals – and realists,” says Rafiq, who by day is a business development consultant in the fire and security sector. “Last season was fantastic. Coming near those standards will be tough, especially when others are trying to stop us. But we won’t be trying or doing anything differently, just giving it a good crack.”

That approach worked last term. There was no shortage of runs and wickets throughout the team, all achieved without a “hired assassin” or professional.

“Sachin Chaudhary and Tom Fleet, key players last season, and Andy Tennent, have all helped on the coaching front, while I think our top seven all made 50s at some point in the season. So, it was very much a team effort.

“We decided not to go down the pro route and instead we’ve invested in our local national players, such as Mitchell Rao, who was terrific last season for us and the top wicket taker in the league. He has gone on to represent Scotland because of the chance he is getting. He was told he’d be playing every week, which has given him an extended opportunity to improve, and he has really progressed, which has benefitted him, us and Scotland.

“We’ll be doing the same with thing with Euan McBeth, a U17 cap for Scotland, who will open the bowling for us this year.”

Representative and international honours are just reward, but for Rafiq, others are missing out because of the structure in Scotland.

“Mitchell is fortunate that he has been earmarked for better things for a few years now. But there are other players who should be getting that kind of profile and opportunity, players who are on the fringes, because that is the only way they’ll improve.

“Internationally, Scottish cricket has a decent profile just now, but I think there is a disconnect in what you might describe as the middle tier.

“You have the international team, and the club scene. But between that, other than age-group cricket, there isn’t anything like representative cricket, or staged matches, or a district championship that would pitch the better players against each other, a higher level for the club players to aim at, a proving ground, that might lead to international cricket.

“Because the national league went back to regions, the standard in my opinion has dropped. The afford-

ability of professional players as well has gone out the window. So, the players at club level are not getting to test themselves against better players either.”

But Rafiq has a bigger gripe about the direction of the club game.

“We are never going to be a Test-playing nation, so why are we persisting with a red ball and whites? I’d say we are probably in the top three or four clubs in the country when it comes to sponsorship and commercial relationships. We do fantastically well. But the fact we play in white kit, rather than coloured outfits, which could carry sponsors colours or names, is restrictive in terms of how we sell the game to sponsors and backers.

“There are complaints the sport doesn’t get enough exposure. But we don’t help when it comes to marketing opportunities.”