A fourth-place finish at last summer’s Europe Qualifier looked to have cost Scotland a place at the 2026 T20 World Cup as the Netherlands and Italy secured the two spots on offer for the region from that event.
Lindblade has already spoken to Cricket Jersey counterpart Sarah Gomersall, given the Channel Islanders might have felt somewhat aggrieved having finished above Scotland in third place at the Europe Qualifier.
Her diplomacy extended to expressing sympathies to Bangladesh’s players who will miss out on the tournament.
Cricket Scotland had waited for the call to come from the ICC out of respect to their counterparts at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
“We do have sympathy for the Bangladesh players and their fans because you know as cricketers they just want to play the game,” Lindblade said.
“But these are circumstances that are beyond our control. They are matters for the ICC and the BCB to work through. But when it comes to that, absolutely, we’re human beings, so that empathy does come there.
“I’d like to think that it’s not becoming a more divided sport and if it is, that we can see that and we can work together to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”
As an Associate member, Scotland receive approximately £2.7m ($3.8m) from the ICC revenue distribution model.
It is a pittance compared to full members – England receive close to £33m in addition to lucrative broadcast deals.
Participation in the World Cup will provide Scotland with a valuable cash injection – they picked up £203,000 ($250,000) from the T20 World Cup in 2024 – but the late nature of inclusion means a greater outlay as well.
Scotland will take two travelling reserves, something they would not normally do for financial reasons, given the risk of injury to players, and they hope the ICC will cover the cost.
“I think the conversations will happen if there’s anything that we’ve had to unreasonably do,” Lindblade said.
“As any team that qualifies for a World Cup, there are financial benefits with that. So we need to make sure that we make the most of it.”
Listen to the full interview with Cricket Scotland’s Trudy Lindblade on the Stumped podcast which will be released on Thursday afternoon.
