Scotland face Canada in opener

Former title-holders Scotland host Canada as this season's ICC Intercontinental Cup gets underway in Aberdeen.

Scotland have made eight changes to the squad that toured England for the ICC World Twenty20, leaving Gavin Hamilton out of the four-day fixture with Gordon Drummond appointed captain. The wicketkeeper Colin Smith has retired and Kyle Coetzer, Dewald Nel, Navdeep Poonia, Glenn Rogers, Craig Wright and John Blain also miss out. They have been replaced in the 12-man squad by wicketkeeper Simon Smith, left-handed batsman Qasim Sheikh, wrist-spinner Moneeb Iqbal and an uncapped 19-year-old allrounder, Ewan Chalmers.

"With these selections, we are starting to look ahead over the next four years and, broadly speaking, we are seeking to give the younger generation as much experience as we can," said coach Peter Steindl. "We believe that some cricketers are more suited to the longer form of the game, while some flourish in the one-day variety. With more and more top-quality youngsters pushing for places in the national squads, those squads may show more differences as time goes on. It's up to the players to make their case on the field."

Drummond, who will be Scotland's third captain this year after Ryan Watson and Hamilton, said the side was ready to move on. "The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a fresh tournament with a new format but some of our players have been playing for Scotland Lions and switching from Twenty20 mode to four-day cricket mode should not be a problem for them.

"We don't need to do anything different except stick to basics and show discipline in our performance. We have a talented side and I think we should be able to do that."

Canada can claim bragging rights having beaten Scotland in a crucial World Cup Qualifier game in Benoni this year and sealing a place in the 2011 event. They have made six changes to the side that reached the final of the Qualifiers in April. Zameer Zahir, Trevin Bastiampillai, Shaheeb Keshvani, Abdool Samad and Ashif Mulla have replaced Balaji Dorakanti, Eion Katchay, Ian Billcliff, John Davison and Arvindan Kandappah while Umar Bhatti will lead the side in the absence of Ashish Bagai.

Squads:
Scotland: Gordon Drummond (capt), Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Jan Stander, Neil McCallum, Simon Smith (wk), Qasim Sheikh, Moneeb Iqbal, Majid Haq, Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Ewan Chalmers.

Canada: Umar Bhatti (capt), Zameer Zahir, Havir Baidwan, Geoff Barnett, Trevin Bastiampillai, Sandeep Jvoti, Sunil Dhaniram, Shaheeb Keshvani, Khurram Chauhan, Ashif Mulla, Henry Osinde, Qaiser Ali, Rizwan Cheema, Abdool Samad.