Wright's men always knew they had very little chance of upsetting either Australia or South Africa in Group A - but they and their supporters expected much better against Holland on Thursday.

Instead, the Scots mustered only 136 all out in 34.1 of their 50 overs and were then powerless to stop the Dutch charging to a first win over them in their last four attempts.

After Ryan ten Doeschate (70no) and Bas Zuiderent had shared an unbroken century stand to see off the Scots with almost 27 overs left, Wright admitted: "I am slightly embarrassed, I have to confess."

The search for answers will doubtless be intense to determine why Scotland failed to reproduce the form which was too much for the Dutch, among others, at the World Cricket League in Kenya this winter.

"The guys have proved against this type of opposition before that they are good players - and I just can't explain why it has gone so badly wrong," Wright added.

"I can't explain what has happened with our batting. It was an area of concern before we went to Kenya but then we had two good months of cricket there.

"We felt the batting was getting into some sort of form. Other than the World Cricket League final, we felt we batted pretty well.

"But unfortunately the old problems with the batting have seemed to resurface here."

Wright also issued an apology to the estimated 1,000 Scottish supporters who flew more than 3,000 miles only to see their team perform so tamely.

"If I was a rich man I'd be going round the ground right now handing back part or all of their entrance fee because they've deserved far more than we've been able to give them over the course of this 10 days," he said.

"We set out to come here and show we are a decent cricket team - which we are - but we have not done it."

Wright was unavailable for Scotland's second match, against South Africa, because he had to fly home following the death of his aunt.

But he never sensed his mid-tour departure made the difference.

"I've missed games through injury before, and we've played well - so I don't think those defeats had anything to do with that," he said. "Holland lost two heavy games as well - but they played okay against us."

The intention was for Scotland to raise their game for a final assignment which, unlike the first two, was obviously winnable.

"Most of the guys should really be looking at this game as another real opportunity to make a statement about themselves as players," said Wright. "But unfortunately nobody did.

"It's a World Cup and a one-day international - something we've only just recently had the privilege of playing - so if any of the guys are switched off I'd be very surprised."

Holland, meanwhile, were led against Scotland not by their long-standing captain Luuk van Troost but by Jeroen Smits.

Van Troost's absence was originally interpreted as a grand gesture from the 37-year-old, missing his farewell international game because of his moderate form in the Caribbean with ball and bat.

He made it clear, however, that was far from the case.

"It was the selectors' decision. It is part of the game - part of sport," he said. "I was not happy with it - but it has gone now.

"It's not the way I hoped to finish. It is disappointing, but I have to move on. I am just happy that we got the win."