Double woe for Scots on weekend to forget

Dropping Neil McCallum for an extra bowler was a rational response to Saturday's defeat to Durham, but it was made to appear like an act of hara-kiri as the Saltires limped and fumbled their way to 95 all out. Not that a robust No 6 would have been able to avert a capitulation of this scale.

Warwickshire were already top of Group C in the Clydesdale Bank 40 before their trip to Glasgow and this was a stress-free affirmation of status. They didn't even have to bowl particularly well to earn the early finish that came their way at 5.20pm, when they reached 97 for three with half of their 40 overs in reserve.

Ninety-five was the Saltires' poorest submission since they were skittled for 73 by Lancashire at Citylets Grange in 2008, and only the fourth time they had failed to reach three figures since the dawn of meaningful county campaigns in 2003. A move to professionalise the squad during the summer months has not yet bridged the gap that yawns open when the more purposeful counties come north.

Warwickshire lost to Ireland in Belfast two years ago and Ashley Giles, the 2005 Ashes hero who rules the roost at Edgbaston, must have stressed the dire consequences of a similar botch-up at Citylets Titwood.

It was Gordon Drummond, the Saltires skipper, who decreed that the home team should bat first and at 29 for no wicket in the sixth over, he had no cause to review that decision, with Fraser Watts and Preston Mommsen playing with discerning aggression. In the space of three balls, however, the game was turned on its head.

First Watts moved across his crease and was hit on the pad by Chris Woakes and given out without hesitation by Stephen Gale, the batsman's dismay suggesting he felt he had hit it. When George Bailey was also pinned lbw two balls later, there was a knowing sense of alarm around the ground.

What followed was the most stupefying period of struggle this observer has seen from a Saltires team.

When Warwickshire's optional Powerplay ended with the completion of the 12th over, the team who had chosen to bat first were 36-4. Worse than the score was the manner of the inequity. Woakes bowled a simple, full, off-stump line to Mommsen and the 22-year-old South African convert was complicit in the recording of 15 consecutive dot balls.

To blame Mommsen for his own inexperience would be ludicrous, but to instruct him to remain positive in the face of falling wickets would be a start. Richie Berrington had departed to a lazy back-foot edge long before Mommsen, the nominated lynchpin, aimed a lofted drive at Woakes without getting his feet to the pitch of the ball.

If it was worrying to see Matty Parker at the crease so soon, it was mildly reassuring to see the Dundonian fast bowler top-score with 22 not out as ill-judged shots saw lower-order mates perish in an orderly procession. But Parker also played shots that don't belong at this level.

If defending a target of 96 against a team at the top of the table is a notional exercise, Parker and Gordon Goudie bowled with admirable discipline, and like Ross Lyons they deserved their wickets. But the action was played out in a sunny stupor, broken only by a squabble in the crowd that led to one spectator giving another a bleeding ear.

The Saltires have come far this summer, but this was a performance shorn of consolations, as coach Pete Steindl reflected: "It's a bit of a wake-up call for us. It's been a bad day all round and you can't really take any positives out of a performance like that.

"We don't set out to have a different mentality when you're playing a team like this compared to a Holland or an Ireland. At the end of the day today's performance, when we lost a couple of wickets, we didn't go about our business in the right way of building a total.

"We did go into a bit of a shell, and forgot about what had actually brought about the start that we had. Let's be honest: no-one wants to get bowled out for a total like 95, and the wicket certainly didn't justify that, but it happens.

"Australia were bowled out for 88 against Pakistan and Pakistan have struggled this week against England. It doesn't make us a bad team overnight."

Five opportunities remain in this year's CB40, three in England and two in Aberdeen, for the Saltires to demonstrate that this display was peculiarly uncharacteristic.

Saturday was much the same story for Scotland as Durham cruised to a 47-run win in a rain-shortened but one-sided contest at the same venue.

Michael Di Venuto's 63 was the mainstay of the visitors' 189 for seven after seeing their innings cut to 30 overs, Gordon Goudie chipping in with four wickets for Scotland.

Hamilton hit 64 to carry the fight to last season's county champions but when he was run out by Di Venuto, the game was up and the hosts could only struggle to 145 for nine.

The rain came with Durham eight for no wicket from three overs and brought about the reduction in the overs for both sides.

The resumption saw the early loss of captain Phil Mustard, who scored 12 of an opening stand of 16 with Di Venuto before he was caught by George Bailey off Goudie, but Durham regrouped as Di Venuto found strong support from Ben Stokes.

The Australian hit nine fours and a six in his run-a-ball knock before edging Gordon Drummond to keeper Dougie Lockhart to leave Durham 112 for two.

Stokes followed not long after for an unusually patient 39, but former captain Dale Benkenstein smashed 34 from 23 balls to pick up the pace.

Some late-overs hitting followed, with Ian Blackwell run out for 11 from six balls and Ben Harmison clubbing a four and a six in 12 not out from just four deliveries.

That damaged Goudie's economy rate, the new-ball bowler finishing with four for 51 from six overs as he led the attack.

A minor Duckworth-Lewis revision left Scotland to chase 193 and they were in trouble from an early stage, losing openers Preston Mommsen and Fraser Watts with just 12 on the board before Bailey also fell cheaply.

Richie Berrington made 29 but became Steve Harmison's second wicket - in four overs costing 17 runs - and left Hamilton to carry the fight almost single-handedly.

The Durham old boy hit 64 from 60 balls, finding the boundary rope on eight occasions, but saw Blackwell blitz through the lower middle order at the other end with three for 35 from his six overs.

Durham were home and dry long before Hamilton fell to Di Venuto's throw, and the remaining overs were a mere procession.