Mommsen questions logic behind qualifiers

Scotland captain Preston Mommsen has continued his crusade to improve the lot of Associate cricketers, and says qualifying events for ICC tournaments should be held in the country the Cup will be played.

Mommsen, a big critic of the way smaller sides get so little support from big nations, feels that if a tournament is played in England, like the 2017 World Cup will be, then it makes no sense to have the qualifiers in a completely different country in terms of playing conditions.

Mommsen said on Saturday: "If you're having a World Cup in a particular country, I think that qualifying tournament needs to be in that country.

"There's huge alarm bells ringing about the 50-over World Cup coming up, and the qualifying tournament quite conveniently held in Bangladesh when the World Cup is in England.

"So that makes absolutely no sense at all, and that seriously needs to be readdressed before that tournament takes place."

Scotland recorded their first ICC tournament win on Saturday, beating Hong Kong to snap a 21-match losing streak, and while Mommsen was pleased about it, he said it was with mixed emotions as it was a dead rubber.

He said; "It's a very good feeling. Bittersweet in many ways, the way this campaign has gone, but at the end of the day we've crossed the line for the first time and it's a very important moment for Scottish cricket, and we'll take a huge amount from today.

"Monkey off the back, and yeah, time to look forward."

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