The coach is quite correct. In pajama cricket it is what happens on the day and often bears little on the perceived ability of any team. Let's hope the Scots can back up the coach and show something. There are many who believe countries like Scotland should not even be in the World Cup. If that isn't incentive enough to get stuck in there nothing is. Good luck to them.

Well good luck to them I say. Perhaps a little misguided though. No-one's fooled by the propaganda however. 10 wicket win with 30 overs to go is a little nearer the mark!

Someones been smoking haggis

i dnt see that happening the Australians will bounce back they always do thats the australia way we r fighters we will

This guy's dilluded, surely.

Good on ya mate!, and thats not a sarcastic comment, My dad is a proud scotsman and constantly tells me that Scotland have a real run at this cup. i dont know about that but i'll get a st Andrews cross tatood on my arm if you guys cant knock out the saffers!. CMON AUSSIE !

Thats funny stuff.
Australian with the hert of a Scot!
I love it!

there no chance

It'd be good for the opening match if they say do the talk. I hope they do give the Aussies a good game. However, the Aussies, as usual will just start to warm up with this game & launch their winning-revival-attack with the Scots. And then, watch the Aussies; I pity whoever will be in their way. C'mon the Aussies.

no way

I quess the scots must be positive, but common, lets just hope for the scots sake the aussies doesnt get motivated by their comments, i think a 500 is on here!!!And then their is still South-
Africa!!!C'mon South-Africa!!

Go Scotland... I am an aussie who is right behind you. nothing better than to see Cocky Australia lose to Scotland. It's time to move them down a few pegs. I hate thier cocky attitude and I hope they lose all their games

If the Aussies don't win I'll drown my sorrows with a bottle of cheap Scotch and large plate of steaming hot Haggis.

I think the Kazakhstan national squad would have more hope..

Scotland have some good players such as Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts and Craig Wright and have a solidly built side. They will compete at this world cup but the australian side should win this match comfortably with the depth and experience which Scotland unfortunately lacks.

i've seen stranger things happen in the last month!!!! who's got the biggest heart and the uninflated ego??

You've really seen stranger things in the last month rosie? What have you been watching?

i used to play in the same team as scotlands opening bowler paul hoffmann and i think the aussies are in a for a bit of a shock if it is his day on... GO HOFFY!!

I have a Scottish friend who is very excited about this game, I rememeber Scotland giving Australia a tough game at the 99 world cup so even tho I think Aust will win fairly comfortably I hope the Scots fight hard which I'm sure they will. With regards to the comment from Peiris you sound like a very disloyal Australian and there will be plenty of Aussies behind the team without your help thank you

Pajama cricket? If it all bears on the day and not on the quality then why havent we seen the likes of scotland and the dutch win the world cup. Think you need to check your head!!

i think a team that is such underdogs have to be positive, Scotland players have to now show something because of there coaches remarks, however i cant see them getting with a mile of the aussies, i think anything over 160 will be impossible for them to score against the aussies and anything 350 or less will be chased down by the aussies so Scotland yous are gunna get crunched by a fair margine but good luck to yas anyway, but i do think the scotland coach has said a little to much, the thing about the aussies is that they love the opposition to talk it up, it just motivates the aussies even more and makes then ultra competitive, GO AUSSIES!!

Australia's 5 match losing streak will help them reclaim their title. Wait a minute, What am I saying?. I am actually right. Everyone is underrating Australia even teams like Scotland. Which is good for Aussies. Australia might be on a losing steak but dont forget in last 3 matches 5 key players were missing and 3 out of those 5 are returning. Pointing alone can more runs than the whole scotland side.

I think he is dreaming they have no hope in the world in beating australia.

How do u believe that scotland are going to beat Australia. They have no chance even though they are in a form slump. They were without Ponting, Gilchrist, Lee, Clarke and Symonds. Australia have fought back many times before and they will do so again.

no way who says scotland have a chance. they have got no hope none in the world. i hope the aussies crush em lets get atleast 400+ australia

GO!!! AUSSIE!

Charlie..... Paul Hoffmann whats the mans ODI average???? Your kiddin yourself.........

If Shane Watson plays then Scotland have a chance. Watson is the worst international player going around!

Peter Drinnen is right. Scotland have a lot of very good players and no injuries. We are running scared. I hope we don't lose by too much.

Drinno is an old club coach of mine here in Brisbane (Australia) Drinno is a former QLD keeper and knows his stuff. If he thinks his side can cause an upset then they should not be taken lightly.

Thane - FYI Hoffy's ODI average is 15 wickets @ 24.66 (economy = 4.21) including 3 for 22 off 10 overs v Pakistan on debut! Anyone who knows Drinno or anything about the Scotland players knows they will compete 100%.

I will be there to support Scotland in St Kitts - I am not expecting them to beat Australia but I do expect them to give tham a game, just as they did in 1999 at Worcester, and if Australia just turn up and expect to win they may be in for a bit of a shock.

Love the banter. Don't care what anyone thinks about this game, but just remember a few historic moments from previous world cups: Zimbabwe v Aus, 1982; Zimbabwe v England, 1992; Windies v SAfr, 1996; Bangladesh v Pakistan, 1999; Kenya v Sri Lanka, 2003... In each game, the second named side was almost an unbackable favourite, and on each occasion, the underdog won. As a passionate Aussie, I agree that we got ahead of ourselves this Summer and have been taken down a couple of pegs with our recent form. Thankfully, there's plenty of time for us to refocus and recover. But, if ANY of the Aussie team believes we'll just turn up to ANY of the matches at the world cup and win, we'll end up adding to the above list. For all Aus supporters, let's just hope that our cricket team doesn't think like most of the passionate, yet misguided comments on this page.
Cheers from France!

scotland will probably not beat the aussies

having said that, watch out for the associate countries this time around

there WILL be more upsets this world cup than in any other

in past world cups, the 'minnows' came into the competition without any lengthy preparation and (barring some exceptional exceptions) were duly hammered

however, this time around all the associates have had a good long time to prepare. theyve taken part in a tough, competitive league and are much better prepared to face the top dogs

my favourites to cause upsets:
ireland : has a very good change of upending zimbabwe (although people might not consider this an upset). and this might not be common knowledge, but ireland historically happens to have an excellent record against WI (an incredible W3-L4) in limited overs cricket. and we all know how mercurial pakistan can be. if ireland come across them on one of their frequent off-days....

as for the other associates, kenya made it to the semis in south africa. call it a fluke if you will, but look for them to trouble nz and england. and dont count canada out. they had a creditable showing in the last world cup, and the current squad is arguably better than the one in SA. look for a repeat performance

scotland and netherlands were unlucky to draw aussies and SA. they dont have a realistic chance, but they will be better than most test-cricket fans give them credit for.

the only associate thats going to consistently whipped will be bermuda. even by bangladesh. they dont stand a chance

scotland could not even beat our aussie womens team australia.the game is based on skill not luck.u scotish fans are full of hopes and dreams.use might have a chance of beating australia and the only way thats gunna happen is if we forfiet and use probly couldnt eve nbeat us on forfiet.

To Charlie and Dean Andric - stop trying to pump your own tyres up - we don't that you played alongside 2 Scottish internationals. Many of their players have come to Victoria to play and haven't even got a game in the first XI of club cricket.

Aussies can put on 330+ in 2 consecutive games without symonds, ponting, gilly, and clarke. they lost those games. but i cant c scotland batting aswell as nz did to chase that down, let alone bowl aswell as nz, which still got 300+ totals. Scotland are No Hope.

Well I reckon scotland have a fair chance if all of Australias National and Domestic Cricketers become injured or if their wives suddenly fall pregnant... then again I still reckon its a tough call... better bring in the Sale U10's team to give them a moderately even contest!

Hell, if we lost to the poms 3 times in a row then the scott's should be able to beat us. You know you're doing bad when you lose to the poms

in a way the the scotyland coach is correct. but no one should forget the fact that his words sounds more meaningless.how thew experienced and hardworking aussie side can be defeated by a mere bunch of old amateaur cricketers but for a fluke and complacency on the part of aussies

there is only one way the aussies can get beaten by the Scotz..if the bus or plane dont make it on time..i hope the aussies bat first..i dont want the Scotz to bat first and struggle to score 140 or less...sorry William Wallace.

i am half scottish and half australian. he is having a laugh, anyone in scotland would say the we(scotland) have no chance of beating us(australia). By the way, i am an aussie when it comes to cricket.

Good luck to the Scots and all the other minnows. Remember Zimbabwe beat Australia in '83 and Kenya beat Sri Lanka in '03 so nothing is impossible - just improbable. I would love to see Scotland (and even Holland) beat Sth Africa to knock them out. Australia v Canada or Kenya in the Final, wouldn't that be good.

I just want to wish Paul Hoffman all the best at the World Cup. I've had the privledge to play again Paul in Rockhampton grade cricket about 5 years ago. He's a gentle giant of the game and he will most certainly do a great job in this WC. Good luck mate. Fitzy

Then they'd be rolling up the haggis in a maple leaf while having a cup of coffee. ...and loving it.

As I recall, the Scots certainly caused the Aussies a few scares in their cup match in 1999. Gavin Hamilton's performances led to him being called up by England. Now Scotland have a much stronger side. The Aussies should win, but if they are as complacent as they were during their 3-0 thrashing by NZ, anything could happen...

Good Luck to the Scots. I look forward to watching the match against Australia ad if they can lose to Bangladesh, they can lose to Scotland. Anything is possible. My support is with Majid Haq (my cousin) and the rest of the Scotland squad. C'mon the Scots!!!!!

The coach is not going to say anything but positives. If his team talk evolved around 'let's just do our best' then we'd get tanked even worse.

We are going to enjoy the occassion and hpe for the best. We ARE very well prepared and ready so we'll see how far that can get us. We are still at the acorn stage but if you are not facing these teams regularly then it's impossible to move on at a higher standard.
All things considered we are a good side capable of troubling some of the bigger boys. It's just a pity that numbers 1 and 2 in the World are in our group.

australia may have lost a couple of games recently but so what that happens to everyone your supposed to win and lose they are miles better than south africa (number 1 in the world) lets say if scotland beat Australia Bermuda will win the whole tournamen. That scotland coach must have been drunk when he said those remarks

Aussies do not have a chance in this world cup.
We are a shambles, overtrained and under prepped.
However, we will overcome the Scots easily enough, but teams like NZ and England who have the wood on us, i wouldnt be so sure of a win.

i wonder if peter drinnen made those comments before or after he realised gilchrist would be avaliable for the first match? he better hope scotland win the toss.....

Yes Scotland have a few decent players, Dougie Brown, Gavin Hamilton (all ex England)not to mention Ryan Watson who has a decent enough international record, 80 on debut against Pakistan, but sadly i have to say Australia are gonna win it at a canter.

I was in Worcester to see Australia play Scotland in '99 World Cup. As an Aussie spectator, I say more power to cricket in kilts!

Best of luck Hoffy.If you and your team play to the best of your ability you can be proud of your effort no matter what the result.