Scotland name strong squad to face England

	Navdeep Poonia adds county experience to Scotland's middle order © Cricket Scotland

Scotland have named a strong squad to face England at the Grange on Monday and include six players with county experience. Top of the list is Gavin Hamilton, who played one Test for England in 1999, and Scotland are also boosted by the availability of batting pair Kyle Coetzer and Navdeep Poonia.

However, there was no place for one of Scotland's most experienced players, Fraser Watts. "It goes with the territory of coach having to tell players they are not involved and it was really tough breaking the news to Fraser," Peter Steindl, the Scotland coach, said. "He has put so much into his own game and into Scottish cricket over the last few years and naturally he is disappointed."

A full house of 6000 is expected to watch the match, the first ODI between the two teams. Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, will be among those attending although the exposure of the game is limited with no television coverage available.

"With all our players available bar the injured [Gordon] Goudie and [Glenn] Rogers, selection has been a difficult process with a couple of our players unfortunately missing out," said Steindl. "Our aim is, quite simply, to be competitive. Being sport, we do, of course, harbour fond thoughts of creating an upset. But we must be competitive."

Scotland captain Ryan Watson added there is a real sense of anticipation ahead of the match. "All the players have been looking forward to this game all season. I'm delighted that we have available all six of our current or former county players, and we are all determined to show what we can do."

"This is also the biggest match we have ever hosted," said Cricket Scotland chief executive Roddy Smith. "In all honesty, it would be a massive, massive shock if we were to win, but we want to put on a performance that shows our true worth as an emergent cricketing nation.

"Over the past 18 months or so, we have faced all the top Test playing nations except England, so this will be the final piece in that jigsaw."

There are fewer than 200 tickets remaining, which will be available for purchase through the Cricket Scotland website until Friday.

Squad Ryan Watson (capt), Gavin Hamilton, Kyle Coetzer, Navdeep Poonia, Colin Smith, Neil McCallum, Richie Berrington, Craig Wright, Calum MacLeod, John Blain, Dewald Nel, Gordon Drummond, Ross Lyons