Calum MacLeod hopes Scotland can follow his lead and put England to the sword six years after he played arguably the greatest innings in his country’s cricket history.
Back in June 2018, Eoin Morgan’s England were well on the way to securing their eventual destiny as 50-over world champions but hit an unexpected bump in the road when they were on the wrong end of a stunning upset by their neighbours in a one-off match in Edinburgh.
MacLeod was the star of the show, blazing an outstanding 140 not out in just 94 deliveries and setting the stage for a remarkable six-run victory on a balmy night at The Grange.
Now 35 and 18 months into retirement, his exploits will provide all the inspiration Scotland need as they prepare for Tuesday’s T20 World Cup Group B opener against their fellow Britons and MacLeod hopes to bear witness to another memorable occasion for his nation.
“Any time Scotland play England is special, and it’s a particularly special memory for me,” he told the PA news agency.
“It was a magic moment in Scotland’s history and I was honoured to have been part of it. I’m absolutely desperate to see another now. All the boys in the team know about the possibility of beating England, it’s not just an idea. They were number one in the world and we managed to beat them. Some of the lads played in that game and the younger ones have seen it.
“They’ll all want to have their own day and we definitely have matchwinners in there, people who are capable of changing games. I just hope somebody else can do what I did and have that big moment. Where better than a World Cup?”
Should they succeed, a small slice of sporting immortality awaits. MacLeod lives and works in Kent as a PE teacher now, but is not likely to find his former life forgotten easily.
“I’m not long retired but in 10-15 years, even more, I can show my two kids and say ‘Dad used to be OK at this’. It’s something I’ll always have,” he said.
“Quite a few of my students know about it. The year sevens always seem to figure it out and I pretend to be annoyed about it! Mostly, I’m worried about them finding old videos of me giving very bad interviews. But we’ll be watching this week and hoping for a win. If I happen to be in the middle of a lesson then they can watch it too.”
MacLeod, who conquered an attack featuring the likes of Mark Wood, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali – all of whom remain in the England side – has one crucial piece of advice when it comes to mastering the underdog victory. Rather than hoping for the opposition to have a bad day, plan for your team to hit their peak.
“England are a world-class team, there’s every chance you can lose to them, so don’t let that worry you,” he said.
“One of our big things was about not wanting them to do badly against us. We wanted them to turn up, do well, and beat them anyway.
“We had grand aspirations of what we could achieve. You’ve got to expect them to play good cricket so it’s more about you and if your best is good enough. That’s what it’s all about.”
