Drummond leads Scotland in final

Gordon Drummond will lead Scotland in the Intercontinental Cup final against Afghanistan, but their squad will be missing the services of three batsmen. Ryan Watson Moneeb Iqbal are unavailable due to work commitments while Ewan Chalmers will be writing his university examinations.

Scotland's previous Intercontinental Cup fixture was against Ireland in August, when they played out a draw, before earning a walkover against Zimbabwe XI. Scotland had refused to tour Zimbabwe for their fixture scheduled for September 26 following advise from the country's government and ministers over issues pertaining to political reform and rule of law. Subsequently, Zimbabwe refused to play at a neutral venue and decided to forfeit the fixture, paving the way for Scotland, who were behind on the points table, to play Afghanistan in the final in Dubai. The teams play the final on December 2.

The Scotland team leaves for Dubai on November 23. "After a long, hard season of cricket which started last January in Kenya, the final will be an excellent opportunity to finish on a real high," coach Peter Steindl said. "This group of players has worked exceptionally hard to reach the final and we will prepare thoroughly for the hard challenge that we know Afghanistan will pose. They have been the dominant team in this competition to date, but we are confident we can compete well against them."

Scotland squad: Gordon Drummond (capt), Fraser Watts, Ryan Flannigan, Kyle Coetzer, Preston Mommsen, Richie Berrington, Neil McCallum, Gregor Maiden, Majid Haq, Matthew Parker, Ross Lyons, Simon Smith, Gordon Goudie, Dewald Nel.