Scots must draw on success of U19s for double header

Published on Thursday 29 July 2010 11:39

Scotland's senior cricketers will head into this weekend's Clydesdale Bank 40 double header with Durham and Warwickshire at Titwood buoyed by the success of the under-19 side in Belfast earlier this week.

The youngsters were crowned European champions under the guidance of coach Craig Wright with five wins out of five, the last against Jersey on Wednesday. And the senior players will be looking for at least one victory from the weekend as the competition against the English counties resumes.

Scotland's campaign faltered when, after an opening round win over Leicestershire, the Saltires followed up with four straight defeats earlier in the summer.

As the Saltires are bottom of their group, it gives coach Pete Steindl a chance to rejig his side following Scotland's good performance at the ICC World Cricket League in Holland earlier this month when they reached the final only to lose to arch-rivals Ireland.

One area of the side that is certain to have a different look about it than in the earlier CB40 matches in May is the opening batting partnership.

Gavin Hamilton is likely to keep his place at the top of the order but neither Ryan Watson nor Omer Hussain - who both opened in the earlier matches - are included in the squad. It means there will be a chance for Fraser Watts or Preston Mommsen to return to the line-up and, with both currently in sparkling form for Carlton, it will be interesting to see who Steindl goes for.

Last weekend, Watts scored 77 in the league on Saturday against McCrea FS West while Mommsen hit 56 in in that same match. They were both also in good form as the club won the National Twenty20 title on Sunday.

Elsewhere in the side, Majid Haq's return from injury means that the Clydesdale man is likely to bowl in tandem with Carlton spinner Ross Lyons. The latter really is at the top of his game at the minute and will be eager to continue to impress as competition for places intensifies.

Former Grange player George Bailey, Scotland's overseas player, also returns after a stint with Australia A. Carlton man Gordon Drummond skippers the side, while Grange batsman Neil McCallum is certain to be included in the middle order on both days such is his importance to the balance of the side.

Both matches start at 1.45pm on Saturday and Sunday.

The Saltires have five more CB40 encounters before the end of August.

Saltires squad: Gordon Drummond, George Bailey, Richie Berrington, Gordon Goudie, Gavin Hamilton, Majid Haq, Moneeb Iqbal, Dougie Lockhart, Ross Lyons, Neil McCallum, Preston Mommsen, Matthew Parker, Fraser Watts.