MacLeod offered two-year deal by Warwickshire

'There couldn't have been a better present' © Donald MacLeod Enlarge

Calum MacLeod, one of Scotland's brightest prospects, has been offered a two-year deal by Warwickshire.

"Warwickshire have shown fantastic faith in me by offering me a two year contract," he told The Scotsman. "They could have hedged their bets with a shorter offer but they have shown real commitment and I intend to repay it. Ashley [Giles] phoned me on Thursday which was my 19th birthday and the contract arrived today. There couldn't have been a better present."

MacLeod, 19, has spent the past two summers training with Warwickshire and is currently playing grade cricket in Australia. And he is relishing the prospect of Warwickshire's new set-up, headed by their director of cricket Ashley Giles.

"Allan Donald had just left when I first went down for trials two years ago," MacLeod said, "so it will be a tremendous thrill to work with someone of his pedigree. But the whole structure is geared for success and I can't wait to be a part of it."

"We've got a good young squad, some good young players at Warwickshire but among the guys we've got, we're lacking some experience," Giles said. "That's because we've lost a few older heads over the last few months. But that, in turn, creates opportunities for others to come through and Calum's one of that group who you'd look towards to try and make their mark. I've not seen a huge amount of him but I know the one thing I won't have to do is push him to work. You know he'll not need to be told to work on his game.

"He'll either be asking for help or just be out there training and looking to improve. That's why it's such a positive thing he's over in Australia at the moment. That's not easy for a young player but it will definitely stand him in good stead. And that's the kind of attitude you want to see from young British players."