Scotland chef de mission Paul Bush has revealed his delight at seeing his country's best-laid plans come to fruition in Melbourne with a plethora of Commonwealth medals.

Scotland had won 29 gongs going into the last day of action, representing their third-best return in Games history - behind Manchester in 2002 (30) and Edinburgh in 1986 (33) - and best-ever outside Britain.

It also eclipsed the target of 15 medals set before the competition and Bush believes the key to the success has been the extra planning and preparation.

"As of this morning, Scotland has won 11 gold, seven silver and 11 bronze medals, putting us sixth in the medals table," said Bush.

"I am delighted that we have delivered on our objective of being the best prepared team ever, and the most successful Scottish team in Commonwealth Games history," he said, referring to the fact that Scotland's tally of 11 golds is three more than their previous record, which was attained in Brisbane in 1982.

Bush added: "We believe the tough selection standard has been vindicated; we also believe that our early selection of the team allowed the athletes to maximise their preparations coming into the Games.

"Swimming, cycling and lawn bowls came out to Australia in December, January and February, with the shooting and hockey teams going to South Africa at the same time for warm-weather training."

Bush also hailed the atmosphere in the Scottish camp, which he described as the "happiest" he had ever been involved with.

He put this down to the unprecedented success of the Scottish athletes where more than 21 per cent of the team finished in the top four of their events, and 72 per cent were in the top eight.

"We still believe our pre-Games target of 15 was realistic," he continued, "but we believe there have been a number of factors in the transformation.

"We continued to raise the bar after Manchester and set a selection standard of top eight, which meant that in terms of strength in depth we selected the strongest team we've ever had."

Bush identified the training base in Bendigo as another factor in the success of the team, and said that a similar approach should be adopted for the next Games in New Delhi in 2010.

"It will be crucial to identify early the holding camp for Delhi."

Looking ahead, Bush believes the future looks promising if the success in Melbourne is any guide.

"I would also highlight the important role the Commonwealth Youth Games is playing in its contribution to the senior team," Bush said.

"Fifteen athletes from the 2004 Youth Games were competing here, including gymnast Adam Cox, who won a terrific bronze on the high bar, and Robbie Renwick, who anchored the 4x200m freestyle swimming team to silver, pushing Australia into third.

"Also Hannah Miley, who reached two swimming finals and placed fourth in the 400m individual medley. This really augurs well for the future."