McCallum's return hands Saltires a timely fillip

SCOTLAND will be boosted by the return of Neil McCallum for the final two Clydesdale Bank 40 series matches of the 2010 season.

McCallum, the leading batsman of the current Saltires squad, will be available after injury to line up against Durham Dynamos at the Riverside Stadium on Sunday and then against Warwickshire Bears at Edgbaston on England's Bank Holiday Monday.

Following Gavin Hamilton's retirement from representative cricket, and the unavailability of Preston Mommsen, there's also a space in the squad for the 19-year-old Grange batsman Oli Hairs.

If the highly-rated teenager, who scored 130 at Loughborough last Sunday in the first of the National Academy's matches in the ECB Tri-Series, takes to the field, it will represent his first senior outing against English County opposition.

Last Sunday, the Scottish Saltires, with an outstanding bowling and fielding display, defeated Leicestershire by 12 runs under Duckworth-Lewis conditions in a rain-affected match at Citylets Mannofield.

The victory followed the four-wicket win over the same County at Grace Road in May, and a fine eight-wicket victory over Leicestershire's second XI in a three-day game, also in May, in which Mommsen (100) and Ryan Flannigan (82) shared a 136-run second-wicket partnership in Scotland's second innings.

Members of the 13-man squad will be available to play for their clubs in the final round of national league matches on Saturday.

Saltires squad: Gordon Drummond (captain), George Bailey, Richie Berrington, Ryan Flannigan, Gordon Goudie, Oliver Hairs, Majid Haq, Moneeb Iqbal, Dougie Lockhart, Ross Lyons, Neil McCallum, Matthew Parker and Fraser Watts.