Kyle Coetzer is entitled to feel frustrated with life at the moment. When you produce a scintillating innings of 133 at the summit of the Scotland order, you are surely entitled to believe that your efforts will prove the catalyst for victory.

Yet, once again, a superb individual performance by a Scottish star has finished in failure for Peter Steindl's personnel against Afghanistan: their fourth consecutive defeat in the space of a wretched six days which have seriously jeopardised the Scots' cherished aspirations of qualifying for the 2015 World Cup.

Yet this latest reverse might have positive consequences if it finally makes the authorities sit up and smell the despair among the country's long-suffering supporters. If nothing else, it should mark the end of Gordon Drummond's tenure as skipper and, hopefully, Coetzer or Majid Haq will be installed at the helm for next week's four-day clash with the Afghanis.

After all, this is the Intercontinental Cup, not the Davis Cup, and certainly no place for a non-playing captain.

But it would be folly to lay an excess of blame on Drummond's shoulders. Peter Steindl's position deserves serious scrutiny, following a series of baffling selection decisions which ought to put his future in doubt. Why wasn't Neil Carter picked for the World Cricket League squad? Why wasn't Josh Davey participating in the first contest? What is the point of the Scots' apparent effort to transform everybody into all-rounders? And why do these professionals - the old excuses about players having to juggle work commitments with sport doesn't wash any more - seem to lack the basic ability to produce collective displays of their talent?

That latter deficiency was painfully obvious during Friday's loss. Coetzer, a genuinely gifted batsman, and Davey, packed with rich potential, amassed 197 runs between them. Add in 14 extras and the eventual tally of 259 for 9 means the other nine Scots managed only 48 runs between them, which would be bad enough, even before recalling that several members of Steindl's brigade had talked about their ability to bat from 1 to 11.

By comparison, the Afghan line-up all rose to the challenge when it mattered. Mohammad Nabi was the sole player to pass 50, but his compatriots chipped on with 30s and 40s and demonstrated the value of building partnerships. What a difference between their solidity and team ethic and the fashion in which Scotland twice imploded to post 199 and 259 where they should have been capable of 250 and 280, or at least if we swallow the hype emanating from the camp.

It isn't all doom and gloom. In Coetzer, Davey, Matt Machan, Richie Berrington, David Murphy, Iain Wardlaw and Haq, allied to Freddie Coleman, there is a seam of quality which can form the basis for future success. Calum MacLeod and Preston Mommsen are both talented performers, despite their struggles in Dubai. Others such as Ollie Hairs and Ally Evans merit a further look. The World Cup dream isn't over - yet - but there is no longer any margin for error.

Henceforth, the Scots should do their talking on the pitch and as many in their ranks as possible should be seeking English county contracts, because they need day-to-day action rather than incessant net and training sessions.

The latter has made them fitter. But it hasn't made them better and perhaps that is the most damning indictment of Steindl's  reign.