England’s Mark Ramprakash is excited to pair up with his new Scottish boys from Edinburgh. The former English batsman, who has 114 first-class hundreds to his name, has been appointed as the head coach for the Edinburgh Rocks and spoke about his eagerness to take matters into his own hands in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam. In an interview published on www.heraldscotland.com, Ramprakash also spoke on why the World Cup should have more than ten teams.

Excerpts from the interview…

Q: Is cricket a sport of the elite?

Ramprakash: I can completely understand why some people in Scotland would think cricket is elitist. A lot of English people also have that same image. If you look at some of the English county academy teams, they will have 12 boys involved and all 12 will go to private school. Cricket is pretty much dead in the state sector. It’s really struggling there. So that is a problem.
But the World Cup has shown how much fun it can be to play the game. Hopefully, we can build upon that with people from all communities, inner cities or wherever it is, and whatever their background.

I’m someone who was born and grew up in London and went to a state school. I’m very lucky that I learnt my cricket from my parents and then my club. I didn’t go to a private school.

Q: Thoughts on the first-ever Euro T20 Slam and coaching the Edinburgh Rocks?

Ramprakash: I think it’s going to be a very exciting tournament. You only have to look at the calibre of players that have been signed and the other coaches who are going to be involved, too.
It’s a great opportunity for the Scottish lads, some of whom I already know and have seen play. One of the key things will be the integration between the local guys and the overseas players. We want it to be a happy camp. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the Scottish players to get to know some of the overseas guys and build new relationships, swap ideas and improve their game.

Q: Thoughts on the World Cup being a 10-team affair?

Ramprakash: I was disappointed that the World Cup was restricted to 10 teams. I thought that was a mistake. We’re trying to grow the game so we should be supporting countries who are investing in cricket. That was a missed opportunity.
What is a challenge for Scotland is that a lot of cricket is based around the one-day game. We’ve seen a drop-off of players in England gravitating towards really wanting to excel in the longer format.

At the moment everyone is occupied with one-day cricket and the ECB (English Cricket Board) keep talking about The Hundred and how good it will be to get young people involved. So there is a real shift and evolution in the game and I don’t know where Test cricket will be in five or 10 years’ time.

The Edinburgh Rocks will face Dublin Chiefs in their season opener on August 31.