Cricket: Mommsen leads Scots against Australia A

Scotland have named their squad to face Australia A in a four-day match starting tomorrow at the Grange.

Preston Mommsen will captain the side in the absence of Kyle Coetzer, one of three Scots involved in county championship action and therefore unavailable.

Scotland’s side has an average age of just 24 and only two players – Gordon Goudie and Richie Berrington – have made more than 10 first-class appearances.

Scotland’s leading ODI wicket-taker Majid Haq has failed to recover from a hamstring injury sustained against Surrey two weeks ago. However, Berrington makes a welcome return after missing the Saltires’ trip to Essex last weekend.

Scotland coach Pete Steindl said: “It will be good to have the opportunity to change our focus from 40 over to four-day cricket against a strong Australia A team. We are looking forward to welcoming Iain Wardlaw, Josh Davey and Matt Machan back into the squad, and it will present an opportunity to stake their claim for a spot in the Intercontinental Cup squad against Kenya next month.”

Australian A captain Brad Haddin said: “There’s guys in the squad preparing for an Ashes tour and young guys involved in their first experience of an Australian A tour and that’s exciting, but we’re all at different stages at the moment. Once the games start and we walk over the line against Scotland and Ireland it’s all about winning games.”

Scotland squad: Preston Mommsen (capt), Richie Berrington, Calvin Burnett, Freddie Coleman, Ewan Chalmers, Josh Davey, Matthew Cross, Moneeb Iqbal, Calum MacLeod, Matt Machan, Gordon Goudie, Iain Wardlaw.

Australia A squad: Brad Haddin (capt), Steven Smith (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Alex Doolan, Ryan Harris, Moises Henriques, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, James Pattinson, Chadd Sayers, Peter Siddle, Jordan Silk.