Scotland Cricket Union Director of Cricket, Jim Love, is right in the thick of Scottish ICC Trophy preparations. This week, he took time out to talk to BTTW about the national team's recent visit to Namibia.

BTTW: Jim - two one day matches and a training camp - before you left what were your goals & that of the squad - was it a way of perfecting certain skills and strengthening camraderie, with the matches a way of putting them into practice? What were the sort of things you concentrated on?

The main aims of the training camp were to get a squad together, get some warm weather on our backs and concentrate purely on cricket and fitness.

We took Andy Vince, our Strength and Conditioning Coach, plus the physiotherapist, Mike Hendrick and myself. And, at the end of the trip, felt that we had achieved what we had set out in terms of fitness levels and awareness had improved and much cricket specific work was done.

BTTW: How did you find the conditions there? Had you been there before? I understand the facilities were one the main reasons you went down there?

I had been to Namibia in 1991 with MCC and had toured for three weeks. On this occasion we were based purely in Windhoek, the capital, who's facilities I knew well. Apart from the facilities, Laurie Pieters proved a valuable contact as President of the Namibian Cricket Board. The Namibian authorities could not have done any more for us on our visit. Being the Scottish National Team, we of course took our weather with us to the desert and endured a few days of rain, which did not adversely affect the trip.

BTTW: Most people at the Associate level know the strength of the Namibians is their discipline and tight play. Was there any aspect of their play which surprised you?

Namibian cricket from my 1991 trip seems to have improved. We had two very close games and we were all impressed by the Namibian batting, especially that of Gavin Murgatroyd (who would walk into any associate side). They are an all round good fielding side with two or three decent bowlers and we predict that they will do well in Toronto.

BTTW: What did you, Mike and the rest of the management team learn about your squad that you didn't already know?

This training camp gave us the opportunity to take one or two youngsters of our own along with a squad of 17. It was interesting to see how they mixed with the senior players and how the senior players interacted with them, the idea being to give the youngsters the taste of what may lie ahead in the future. We realise that we had players left at home who are still knocking on the door for selection to Toronto and every squad member was therefore striving for success and selection from this trip.

BTTW: Briefly, what was the story from the Scottish point of view about the first match?

The first match was our first on-grass for six months and at 6,000 feet altitude and in uncommon heat to Scots at this time of year we struggled against a Namibian side that was just coming off the back of an MCC visit of the previous three weeks and were therefore fully match fit. Our bowlers struggled for line and length and our batsmen struggled to hit the ball off the square, however we did get up to win the game with 4 balls to spare, but it was by no means our best performance. Early days!!

BTTW: How did that change the way you approached the second match? Again, what was the story about the second match from the Scottish perspective?

Three changes were made for the second game in which Namibia came out on top fairly convincingly. The training had probably got to the boys by now and everyone was beginning to feel fairly tired. Bearing in mind these games should have been played 3 days earlier and rain had interrupted our preparations. We found that the adverse weather meant we were not able to concentrate on the build up to the matches as we would have wished. The Namibians beat us convincingly in what was a tired performance. It must be stated the Namibians were well worthy of this victory.

BTTW: How did the conditions suit the sort of preparation you wanted - was it good practice with Toronto in mind, or were the pitches suited to a certain style of bowling or limiting in the batting?

As far as wickets in Toronto are concerned, I'm unsure as how to relate them to the Namibian wickets. The wickets provided were excellent for both bowling and batting and made the trip most worth while.

BTTW: So what did you think overall about the Scottish performance? Which areas are strengths and which ones need improving?

Overall, very pleased with what we got out of the training camp. The match results in that they were friendlies were never going to be the main focus of the training camp. We were able to major on cricket specifics for two weeks, and the players involved have all learnt differing methods that may suit their gameplan and roles within the side.

BTTW: How does this squad compare to the 1997 ICC Trophy one in relative strengths?

At present we have not selected our squad for Toronto. This will be announced on 4 May 2001. I am hopeful at this point that we will be able to compete fully at Toronto. Speak to me once the squad is selected.

BTTW: Did you get much time to see any of Namibia?

Being based in Windhoek we did not see any of the rest of the country. Namibia remains a great place to go for a training camp and if we were lucky enough to go again I would certainly time table visits to other parts of the country.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd